The 100
by ThePurplePyroHedgie
Summary: AU: After Mobius was eradicated by nuclear war, the last of the human race transported themselves to space to live on the ark. It has been over 100 years, and now the ark is dying. In order to find out if Mobius is survivable, 100 teen delinquents will be dropped back onto the ground. SonAmy (Rated T for now) [Based on the TV series: "The 100"]
1. The 100

**Author's Note:** This story is based (and adapted) on the TV series:_ The 100_ on TheCW. There are bits that I have tweaked to fit with the SEGA characters. The story is not my own. I do not own the SEGA characters. I thought it would be fun to adapt this using the SEGA characters. Now, enjoy.

**Side note:** Most of the characters in this story are around ages 15-19.

•~•

* * *

><p>Amy Rose sat on the floor of a cell. With only a small piece of chalk in hand, and drew onto the floor around her. Being trapped in her cell could be quite boring and this was her only form of entertainment. She drew what appeared to be a luscious forest with, grass, brush, bushes, tall trees and even a large waterfall. She finished the final shading to her illustration when suddenly bright lights turned on in her cell. The cell door opened and two guards wearing black armor walked in.<p>

"Prisoner 319, face the wall," one of the guards instructed.

Amy stood up with no complaint and faced the wall behind her. She could hear as the two guards entered her cell and walked around. As she stared at the wall in front of her she was curious as to why the guards were here. Was this just another weekly inspection? "What's going on?" she asked calmly.

"Quiet," the other guard spoke sternly.

The first guard came up behind her with a metal bracelet in his hands. It almost looked like a tracking device bracelet with a small screen and a few buttons. "Hold out your right arm," he said.

Amy looked over her shoulder as she heard the bracelet unlock from behind her. She looked at the strange contraption. Was she being executed today? Panic began to set in. "No, no, it's not my time. I don't turn 18 for another month!" she begged fearing the worse.

The guard holding the bracelet ignored her questions and pleas. "Just hold out your arm," he repeated while getting closer to her. The second guard whipped out a long metal stick that resembled a baton. But as it retracted out into a longer stick it began to make a charging noise. It wasn't just a normal stick; it doubled as a taser.

"No!" Amy looked at both guards as she turned around. Clearly she was going to be executed and they didn't want her to escape. The guard with the taser stick went to hit her, but she quickly dodged his swing, grabbed his hand and forced him to taser himself. The guard grunted as he collapsed to the floor.

"Get back here, prisoner!" the other guard shouted as he reached for her running out the door.

Amy managed to get out of her cell and slammed the door shut, imprisoning the two guards inside. As she came out, she looked over a railing looking down onto the other decks of prisons. All the prison doors were opened and guards were leading out other teen prisoners out of their cells. Amy watched in awe, terror and puzzlement as other prisoners like herself, tried to rebel against their guards. Were all of them being executed today? Her cell door began to open as the two guards made their way out.

"Prisoner 319!" they shouted angrily.

Amy backed against up the rails preparing to make her getaway, when she heard a familiar voice call out her name from behind. "Amy, stop!"

She spun around and saw her mother approach her. "Mom?" she uttered. She hadn't seen her mother in nearly a year.

Her mother was a pink hedgehog like herself. She had four bangs and a side braided ponytail. She made her way past the two guards trying to capture her daughter. "Wait here," she said while putting a hand out in front of them. The guards nodded and stood back.

Her mother came up and gave her a hug. Amy hugged her back. It was nice to have contact with a loved one after so long. "Mom, what's going on? What is this?" she asked trying to hold back from crying.

Her mother stroked the back of her head with a solemn expression on her face, as she held her daughter closely. "Oh, Amy…"

Amy looked over and spotted a yellow fox being dragged off by some guards. She knew him from school; his name was Tails. He shot her a worried look from a far. "They're killing us, aren't they?" Amy said pulling away from her mother's embrace. "They're reducing population to make more time for the rest of you, right?" she quickly deduced.

Her mother shook her head. "No, they're not. Amy, listen to me. You are not being executed." She held her daughter by the arms and stared into her eyes. "You're being sent to the ground, all one hundred of you."

Amy looked bemused at her mother. "What? But it's not safe." Amy shook her head. "No, no! We get reviewed at 18, that's the rule," she pleaded.

Her mother softly shushed her. "No, honey. The rules have changed. This gives you a chance to live."

Amy was completely taken a back. So many thoughts were going through her mind. How could the ark send all the teen juveniles to the ground, a place that shouldn't be inhabitable for many more years to come?

Her mother looked at her with hopefulness in her eyes. "Amy, you need to be a leader, just like your father. But be careful, I can't lose you, too." Her mother brought her into another loving hug. "I love you so much," she whispered.

Amy felt tears come to her eyes as she hugged her mother back. "I love you too."

A guard that crept up from behind Amy aimed a gun towards the young pink hedgehog. He shot his gun launching a tranquilizer dart into her shoulder. Amy gasped and quickly felt the medicine begin to work, as she slowly collapsed in her mother's embrace. Her mother held onto her as Amy's legs gave way. She guided her daughter down onto the floor still holding onto her. The last thing she heard her mother say was, "You're going home, Amy."

* * *

><p>In space, a large ark launched a space pod towards Mobius. Inside the pod Amy was strapped into a seat passed out. She began to stir as she heard people talking in the background. She looked down to her wrist and hissed in pain. The guards must have placed the wristband on when she was knocked out. It was kind of tight and felt restricting.<p>

"Welcome back," a male voice said next to her.

She looked to her right and spotted a person she'd rather not see. He was a silver hedgehog with yellow eyes. He was also strapped in and had the same wristband around his right wrist. He could see Amy wasn't too happy to see him when she regained consciousness. "Look, Amy-" he began.

Amy shot him a disgusted look. "Silver, why the hell are you here?" she asked aggressively.

He held up his wrist with the armband. "When I found out they were sending prisoners to the ground, I got myself arrested," he explained. She looked at him like he was insane. He gave her a weak smile. "I came for you."

A loud crash erupted and the lights inside the pod flickered erratically. The whole pod shook and vibrated. Everyone else strapped in their seats looked around frightened. Were they going to survive this trip?

"What was that?" Amy asked panicked while looking around.

Silver looked to the ceiling. "That was the atmosphere," he stated simply. Amy looked over her right shoulder and spotted Tails, and a red armadillo named Mighty. They were two of her friends from school that she hadn't seen in a year. Tails shot her a small smile before she turned her face away.

Suddenly the lights dimmed and TV screens all throughout the pod turned on. Another silver hedgehog that resembled Silver, but much older appeared on the screen. "Prisoners of the ark, hear me now. You've been given a second chance. And as your Chancellor, it is my hope that you see this as not as a chance for you, but a chance for all of us."

Amy looked up at the screen and listened as everyone else in the pod did the same.

The chancellor continued. "We have no idea what is waiting for you down there. If the odds of survival were better, we would've sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you _expendable._"

A green hedgehog sitting behind Amy and Silver shook his head as he watched the screen. "Your dad is a dick, Silver." Some other people around laughed at his comment. Not many people in the pod were a fan of his father.

Silver ignored the comment and continued watching his father on the TV.

"Before the last war, G.U.N built a military base within a mountain. It was to be stocked with enough nonperishables to sustain 300 people for up to two years," he explained. "No one ever made it there."

A blue hedgehog in the back unbuckled himself from his seat as he floated in the air doing a couple of flips, showing off. Some of the other teens cheered him on, and laughed at his daring stunt.

"You should strap in before the parachutes deploy," Silver instructed as the blue hedgehog floated his way.

"Make me," the hedgehog said smugly.

"If you want to live, get back to your seat," Amy said staring at him in annoyance.

The blue hedgehog looked her way. She looked familiar to him. "Aren't you the traitor that was locked up in solitary for over a year?" he asked curiously.

"Aren't you the idiot who wasted a month of oxygen for an illegal spacewalk?" she shot back.

He chuckled. "Yeah, but it was fun." He couldn't help but notice she was kind of cute. "I'm Sonic, by the way." He stuck out his hand for her to shake.

She looked down at his hand before looking away. "Just get back to your seat, Sonic."

"Sheesh, cold," he laughed pulling away his hand from her. He could see she was serious. "Alright, but I'm only doing it since you asked so _nicely_." He raised his eyebrows up and down while giving her a wink. Then floated back over to his seat and buckled back up.

Amy rolled her eyes at his flirtation. "Stupid, hedgehog," she muttered.

The pod entered the atmosphere and began to violently shake. Sparks flared from one of the corners of the pod. People began screaming in terror. It sounded like a malfunction.

* * *

><p>Back on the ark in a tech room, a group of adults stood in front of a giant monitor screen. Across it were stats, vitals, and pictures for every single teen prisoner on the pod. This kept the vital signs and mortality updated for them. A white hedgehog also known as the head guard walked through an automated door. He wore the same familiar black armor the other guards wore. He strode towards a group of scientists typing down data onto large touch screens. "What are we looking at?" he asked.<p>

A red rabbit turned when he approached. He had a handheld computer tablet in hand. "Total system failure, that's what we're looking at. All we know for sure is that they were off course when we lost contact, so-"

"-Tell me about communications," he said cutting him off.

The red rabbit swiped his screen looking at the data. "Other than the telemetry from the wristbands, we got nothing—no audio, no video, no computer link. Everything that we programmed in to help them is gone. They're on their own."

The white hedgehog face contorted into a grimace. "Great..."

* * *

><p>"Retrorockets ought to have fired by now!" Silver shouted over the loud noises the pod was making as they continued to get closer to the ground.<p>

Amy felt a panic attack setting in but tried to calm herself down. "Everything on this ship is 100 years old, right? Just give it a second!" Smoke began to cloud the inside of the pod.

Silver feared the worst. He swallowed hard and turned to her. "Amy, there's something I have to tell you," he shouted over the noise. Amy looked at him, what did he have to say that was so important right now? "I'm sorry I got your father arrested," he said.

She glared at him. "Don't you ever talk about my father!"

Silver saw her anger. "Please, I can't die knowing you hate me," he begged.

"They didn't just _arrest_ my father, Silver. They executed him! How can I not hate you?" she shouted over the noise back at him.

The pod made a loud crash into the ground, and the lights inside shut off. The sound of the engine dimmed as it turned off. People in the pod gasped as some electrical sounds popped and zapped around them. Then suddenly the lights flickered back on slowly.

Tails hushed everyone. "Listen," he said. Everyone remained quiet and listened. "No machine hum," he finished.

"Well, that's a first," Mighty replied.

Everyone began to unbuckle their seat belts and got up. Amy quickly unbuckled herself and walked away from Silver as quick as possible.

"The outer door is on the lower level, let's go!" Sonic shouted as he climbed down a ladder.

"No, we can't just open the doors!" Amy said making her way past people. Amy climbed down a ladder after him, and saw a group of teens huddled in front of the door. A black and red hedgehog stood at the front of the door trying to manage the crowd. "Hey, just back it up!" he ordered.

Amy jumped down onto the ground from the ladder. "Stop!" The black and red hedgehog looked for the person who shouted. Amy pushed past people to make it to the front. She stood in front of the black and red hedgehog. "The air could be toxic."

"If the air is toxic, we're all dead, anyway," he stated while reaching for the lever to open the hatch.

"Shadow?" a female said from behind the crowd.

Shadow's fingers stopped over the lever as he turned recognizing the voice. A curvy white bat made her way past some people as her eyes set on the black and red hedgehog. Shadow smiled as he stared at her. "Look at you, you've grown into a beautiful young woman."

She smiled and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back happy to be reunited with her. She looked down at the clothes he was wearing. Shadow was dressed in a guard's uniform. "What the hell are you wearing?"

"I borrowed it to get on the drop ship," he said. "Someone's got to keep an eye on you."

Amy noticed Shadow wasn't wearing a wristband like the rest of them. "Where's your wristband?"

The white bat shot a dirty look towards her. "Do you mind? I haven't seen my brother in a year."

"No one has a brother," someone sneered from the crowd. Everyone gasped as they stared at the siblings.

"That's Rouge, the girl they found hidden in the floor!" someone else said pointing at her.

Rouge shot them an angered look and went to lash out at them, but Shadow held her back. "Rouge, no!" She kept her eyes on them wishing her brother hadn't been holding her back. "Let's give them something else to remember you by."

She pulled away from his hold. "Yeah, like what?"

"Like being the first person on the ground in 100 years," he said with a smile.

Rouge smiled at him. Shadow turned back to the door and reached for the lever to open the door hatch. He pulled down on it, and the doors opened depressurizing. Everyone waited for the steam to clear before a bright light shined in their eyes. Everyone looked around as they took in their first breath of fresh air.

The wind blew their hair back as they felt it for the first time. Trees, moss, grass, dirt surrounded them; everything a forest could offer. The sun shined through the tree branches, and they felt the sun kiss their skin for the first time. Rouge stepped forward and took in a deep breath before exhaling. She let her head fall back as she took in the fresh oxygen for the first time in her life.

Shadow smiled as he stood back and let her experience this on her own. Rouge walked down the metal drop ship door inches from the ground. She looked down at it in anticipation of walking on a different type of texture. For the first time she wouldn't be walking on metal floors. She jumped onto the dirt ground and smiled feeling it's softness through her boots. "We made it!" she cheered while throwing her arms up.

Everyone inside the pod cheered and ushered out of it in excitement. Teens ran around the forest finally free of their home in space. Amy stepped out and felt the excitement herself. They weren't dead yet, were they immune to the radiation? Was the radiation gone? She opened up a map that was left on the drop ship. Through some trees she could see the mountain peeking through the branches. The one they were suppose to have landed on far from their drop location.

Sonic appeared by her side and elbowed her softly. "Why so serious, princess? It's not like we died in a fiery explosion."

She stared at him not amused by her given nickname. "Do you see that peak over there?" she said nodding her head in the direction.

He looked. "Yeah, so?" he said uninterested.

"That's where the G.U.N bunker is. Right now, there's a radiation soaked forest between us, and our next meal." She closed her eyes as frustration set in. "They dropped us on the wrong damn mountain."

* * *

><p>The white hedgehog stood in front of the scientist in the monitor room. "There it is," he said pointing to a red dot on Mobius. "We know they've landed, but communications are down, which means we're still blind to conditions on the ground." Amy's mother, Abby was present in the room for the meeting. "Thanks to Abby's wristbands, we at least know how those conditions affect the human body, which is more than we've had for 100 years. So nice work."<p>

"Thank you, Councilor Kane," she responded.

He smiled. "Of course." He looked back to the monitor with all the teen's stats. "Now what are they telling us?" he asked.

Abby looked to the screen. "Spiking vital signs, two possibilities – one, injuries sustained during landing."

"And the other?" he questioned curiously.

She smiled. "They're excited to be there."

* * *

><p>Shadow and Rouge walked alongside each other as they enjoyed the beauty around them. "I can't believe you snuck in to be here with me, Shadow."<p>

"Look, Rouge. I came to protect you," he said reaching for her arm.

She swiped her arm away from his grasp. "I don't need protecting. I have been locked up one way or another all my life. I am done following orders."

He understood how she felt but he still wanted her to be safe. He could see that he was pushing his boundaries a little bit though. "Rouge."

"I need to have fun, Shad. I need to just do something crazy just because I can, and no one including you is going to stop me," she said with a proud smile.

He grabbed her arm and led her away from listening ears around. "Look, I did something to get on that drop ship. Something that they will kill me for when they come down," he said quietly. Rouge looked at him surprised and wondered what he had done. He could see she wanted him to tell her. "I can't say what it is just yet, but you have to trust me."

She nodded slowly. "Okay, Shadow."

* * *

><p><strong><span>AN:<span> **This is only the beginning. Feel free to let me know what you think. :)


	2. Earth Skills

**Author's Note:** Hey everyone! I'm so glad people are enjoying this story. Thank you P**oeticlover1996, Sara lovelymusic, BeltOfVenus, shadic018, **and** Kalex Chwell! :) **Your reviews mean a lot to me. Now to get back to the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the SEGA characters.

•~•

* * *

><p>Using the drop ship's door, Amy laid out the map and began designating a route to get to the G.U.N base. While she was doing that the rest of the teens walked around exploring, and kicking back to relax. Someone walked up from behind Amy, and she felt their looming presence behind her. It was Silver.<p>

"We got problems. The communication system is dead. I went to the roof and a dozen panels are missing. The heat fried the wires."

"Well, all that matters right now is getting to the base." She pointed to the map. "See look." Her finger pointed to a red dot marked on the map. "This is us." She drew a line with a pen to the G.U.N base. "This is where we need to get to if we want to survive.

"Wow, a map. Lame," another voice, piped in from behind them. It was Rouge as she stood besides her brother with a smug grin on her face.

"We're just trying to figure out where we are," Silver said defensively.

"We're on the ground. Is that not good enough for you?" Shadow said pompously.

Silver's brows furrowed. "We need to find the G.U.N base. You heard my father's message. That has to be our first priority."

Rouge put a hand on her right hip and glared at him. "Screw your father." Silver remained silent and just stared back coldly. Rouge picked up on his irritation by her comment. "What, you think you're in charge here? She glanced at Amy. "You and little princess?" she leered.

Amy wasn't bothered by her remark. "Do you think we care who's in charge? We need to get to the base, not because the chancellor said so, but because the longer we wait, the hungrier we'll get," she argued.

"How long do you think we'll last without those supplies?" Silver added.

Amy pulled out the map. "We're looking at a 20 mile trek, okay? So if we want to get there before dark, we need to leave now." From the commotion more teens began to circle around them.

"I got a better idea," Shadow interrupted. "You two go," he said pointing at them. "Find it for us. Let the privileged do the hard work for a change," he argued.

"Yeah," some of the other teens said in unison and agreement.

Silver sighed in frustration. "You're not listening. We _all_ need to go!" Someone came up from behind Silver and shoved him. Silver stumbled forward a bit before looking back to see who had pushed him.

Scourge stepped out from behind him, shoving past him. "Look at this, everybody - the chancellor of earth," he cracked. People laughed again.

"You think that's funny?" Silver said while glaring back.

He nodded while smirking. "Yeah, I do actually." Scourge lunged and shoved him back. Silver fell onto his back while twisting his ankle from the shove.

"Silver!" Amy shouted while trying to intervene. Drago, a grey wolf and Sleuth, a brown dog grabbed her and held her back. "Hey!" she said while struggling to break free.

The group of teens circled the two hedgehogs as they egged on Scourge to fight. "Get him!" they shouted.

Silver staggered to his feet slowly but noticed his ankle was hurt from his fall. He held his fist up in a fighting stance as Scourge smiled darkly. He would still fight if he had to. "What you gonna do, huh?" Scourge pretended to do some quick swings but retracted back making Silver flinch.

"Come on! Come on!" the teens shouted. They wanted to see a fight go down.

Sonic was sitting on top of the drop ship watching the dispute go on, until he became annoyed with it. He jumped, dropping down in between the two hedgehogs. Scourge stepped back surprised by the intervention. "He's got one good leg. How about you wait until it's a fair fight?" Sonic retorted.

Scourge shrugged coolly and looked over Sonic's shoulder towards Silver. "Guess you get to live another day." He laughed before walking off with his crew.

All the other prisoners dispersed as the entertainment for the day had ended. Amy helped Silver sit as she examined his hurt ankle. Sonic casually walked over to the two. "So, G.U.N facility. When do we leave?" he asked casually.

Amy stood up. "Right now." She looked down at Silver. "We'll be back tomorrow with food."

"How are you two going to carry enough food for a hundred people?" he quieried.

Sonic looked over to two boys standing nearby. It was Tails and Mighty. He put a hand on each one of their shoulders and dragged them over. "Easy, there will be four of us. Can we go now?" he asked impatiently.

"Sounds like a party. Make it five," another female voice said. Everyone looked and saw Rouge strutting her way over.

Shadow jogged over stopping her. "Hey, what the hell are you doing?"

"Going for a walk," she said crossing her arms. She was already growing tired of Shadow's overprotecting nature.

Amy looked and noticed Sonic's bracelet looked slightly damaged. "Hey, were you trying to take this off?" She grabbed his wrist and examined it.

He smiled confidently. "Yeah, so?"

"This wristband transmits your vital signs to the ark. Take it off, and they'll think you're dead." An idea sprung into Shadow's head from that mention. Maybe that information could come in handy for him later down the line.

"Should I be caring?" Sonic asked facetiously.

She raised a brow. "Well, I don't know. Do you want the people you love to think you're dead?" she asked straight. "Do you want them to follow you down here in two months? Because they won't if they think we're dying."

Sonic retracted his arm. Maybe she was right. "Alright, let's go then."

The four walked off and Rouge remained behind with Shadow. She looked to him with puppy eyes. Shadow groaned rolling his eyes in defeat. He needed to give her some independence. "Go."

She kissed the side of his cheek. "Mwah!" He smiled and watched as she caught up with the others.

"Amy, wait!" Silver called as he sat on the ground.

Amy turned and walked back over to him. "You shouldn't have come here, Silver." He frowned and watched her walk off with the others.

* * *

><p>Back at the Ark, Abby watched the vital signs for the one hundred. A female pigeon scientist approached the hedgehog. "Hey Abbey, how's Amy doing?"<p>

Abby looked away from typing on her keyboard. "Her vital signs are strong," she said looking at the picture of Amy with her data besides it. A phone rang besides her and she answered. "This is Dr. Rose." Her face became laced with dread as she listened to the other end. "I'm on my way," she said before hanging up.

Abby began walking towards the exit. She looked over to a red rabbit. "Jackson, put it out there. We need blood – A negative. And a lot of it—and then get your ass to the O.R."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied.

The female pigeon rushed by Abby's side. "What's wrong?"

She stopped in the hallway. "The chancellor has been shot."

* * *

><p>Amy, Sonic, Tails, Mighty, and Rouge walked between some moss covered fallen trees. Purple flowers blossomed all over the moss. Amy stopped when she realized the rest of the group was enjoying the scenery a bit too much. "Can you guys hurry up?"<p>

"Come on, Ames. How do you block all this out?" he said while gesturing his hands to the scenery around them.

"We have a mission to do," she retorted before hopping over a log.

The rest of the group exchanged looks. Rouge rolled her eyes. "Someone needs to slip her a chill pill," she muttered under her breath.

* * *

><p>Back on the ark, a brown coyote in guard's clothes approached councilor Kane. "We I.D'd the shooter, sir."<p>

Councilor Kane was intrigued to know who it was. "Tell me, Antoine. "

Antoine pulled out a tablet and swiped through some pictures. He stopped on a picture of Shadow with all of his records. "This is him, sir. His name is Shadow. He is the only person on the ark who is unaccounted for."

Kane stared at the picture not recognizing him. "Who is he?"

"We're still working up a profile, but his motive for going to Mobius is clear." Antoine tapped the family profile tab and it opened up another set of pictures.

"His sister. I remember now," Kane said while staring at the photo of Rouge. "Her mother kept her hidden for almost 16 years. Nearly a record," he recalled.

"What should I do now, sir?" Antoine asked.

"Find who helped this hedgehog get on the drop ship, because he sure as hell didn't do it by himself." He handed the tablet back to the coyote. "Seems we have a traitor in our midst, commander, and the one hundred have an assassin in theirs."

* * *

><p>Back at camp Silver dropped some sticks he had collected near the drop ship. He was still hobbling on one leg, but he wanted to help around camp.<p>

"Find any water yet?" a familiar voice said from behind him.

He turned and saw Scourge and Drago standing nearby. Scourge had a makeshift knife that was some metal from a part of the drop ship. He held it in his hands while wiping under the brim of his nose nonchalantly. "You know, my father begged for mercy in the airlock chamber when your father floated him."

Silver walked away ignoring the two. He knew they were trying to get a rise out of him. Shadow walked over watching the silver hedgehog disappear around the side of the drop ship. He looked to Scourge, as he had a plan in mind. "If you're going to kill someone, it's probably best not to announce it," he advised.

Scourge shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. "You're not really a member of the guard, are you?" he said staring at his guard wear.

He shook his head. "No. The real guard will be here soon though, unless we stop it." Drago and Scourge exchanged looks. Shadow saw they doubted his word. "You don't actually think they're going to forgive your crimes? Even if they do, then what? Guys like us, are going to suddenly become model citizens?"

"You got a point, stripes?" Scourge spat impatiently.

"No, a question," he hinted with composure.

"We're listening then."

"They locked you up, then dumped you down here like lab rats to die. So why are you helping them?" he asked.

"The hell we are," Drago scoffed.

Shadow looked to their bracelets. "You're wearing those bracelets, aren't you," he pointed. Both Scourge and Drago looked down at them. "Right now, those things are telling them whether or not it's safe to follow us down."

"You said we could stop it. How?" Scourge asked getting his point.

"Take them off. The ark will think you're dead- that it's not safe to follow. Get it?"

Scourge nodded with a smirk. "You're pretty smart, stripes. I'll give yah that. But if we do this, then what's in it for us?"

Shadow smirked. "Someone has got to help me run things."

* * *

><p>In the monitor room on the ark loud alarms went off signaling something wrong. Jackson looked to the screen and noticed Scourge and Drago's pictures flared red and their heart rate flat lined. "Shit, what the hell?"<p>

Abby had re-entered the room when she heard the alarms going off. "What's going on?"

"Two boys just died according to the bands." He tapped their pictures on his tablet looking at their vitals moments before their death. "It makes no sense though, they were fine just a minute ago."

"Maybe the bands aren't transmitting well," Abby said trying to come up with a reason.

"I'll work on it and see if I can find any bugs. How's the chancellor doing?"

"He's stabilized. We saved his life, but barely."

* * *

><p>With Amy's group, the five walked down a steep incline together with tall trees surrounding them. It had been at least thirty minutes in their travel.<p>

"You know what I'd like to know?" Sonic asked breaking the silence of the journey.

"What, Sonic?" Amy asked uninterested while leading the way down.

"Why send us down today after 97 years? What changed?" he questioned.

"Who cares?" Rouge replied. "I'm just glad they did!" She flew past Sonic and landed in front of him. "I woke up rotting in a cell, and now I'm flying through a forest," she said doing a twirl in the air.

"Maybe they found something on the satellite," Tails deduced as they passed Rouge flapping her wings in mid air. "Or, you know, like an old weather satellite, or"

"-It wasn't a satellite. The ark is dying," Amy interrupted. The group froze in place and stared at her shocking information. "At the current population level, there's only three months left of life support, maybe four now that we're gone," she said walking past them.

Sonic caught up to her and jogged by her side. "So, that was the secret they locked you up for? That's why you were in solitary?"

"My father was the engineer who discovered the flaw. He thought the people had a right to know. The council disagreed, my mother disagreed, and he was floated for it."

"Who turned your dad in?" Tails asked from behind.

She looked away with a hurt expression. "Silver." Most of them weren't surprised. Silver was the chancellor's son after all.

"They're going to kill more people aren't they?" Mighty inquired walking up next to her left.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they did," Amy replied.

"We have to warn them," Sonic said.

She looked to Sonic. "…That's what my father said." She continued walking but bumped into Mighty who was staring off ahead.

"Damn..."

Tails, Amy, and Sonic looked around Mighty to see what he was staring at. Rouge was standing on a rocky edge near a river getting undressed. She unzipped her form-fitting jump suit, sliding it down, leaving her only in her bra and bikini underwear. All of the guys enjoyed the strip tease as they checked her out. Amy's mouth dropped as she watched Rouge walk over to the edge of the rocks. "Rouge, what the hell are you doing?"

Rouge looked over her shoulder at the rest of the group and ignored Amy's question. She jumped in the air and dove into the waters below making a splash. The rest of the group ran over to the edge to see if she was okay.

"Rouge, none of us know how to swim!" Tails shouted as they stood from the rocky shoreline.

Rouge had her eyes peeping up over the water as she stared at them seductively. She raised her head above the water and smirked. "I know, but we can _stand_," she said as she raised her chest above the water. The water wasn't that deep. She laughed playfully and smiled at the others.

Amy looked down at her map. "Wait, there's not suppose to be a river here…"

"Well, there is, so take off your damn clothes," Sonic grinned flirtatiously.

Amy rolled her eyes at Sonic's comment. Mighty began to take his jacket off when he noticed something in the water approaching Rouge from behind. His eyes widened. "Rouge, get out of the water!" he shouted.

Rouge looked behind her from the sound of panic in Mighty's voice. When she looked back something big was grazing the top of the water as it made it's way towards her. Its body resembled much of a large snake like creature, as it slithered towards her from under the surface.

"Rouge, get out of the water now!" Amy shouted anxiously also seeing the creature.

Before Rouge had enough time to get away she screamed as the creature grabbed her leg, and dragged her under the water. "Rouge!" Mighty bellowed.

The creature dragged her further from the shoreline as Rouge flailed her arms in the water making it splash. "Aaah!"

It suddenly dove deeper under the water disabling her to breathe. Mighty watched in horror. "No…" Everyone watched as the water was very still. They looked everywhere trying to locate her.

Suddenly in the middle of the water, Rouge popped back up to the surface and splashed the water while she screamed. "There!" Tails pointed.

"Help me!" Rouge cried. The creature still had her in its grasp.

"What the hell is that thing?" Sonic shouted while watching it drag her all over the river frantically.

"I don't know!" Tails said as they followed the side of the shoreline to keep up with her.

"We need to get it away from her." Amy did some quick thinking. She looked at a large rock sitting on the rocky edge. "If we distract it, maybe it'll let her go. Help me, Sonic!" she said while trying to shove a large rock off the edge.

Mighty kept his eyes fixated on Rouge in a moment to help grab her. Sonic and Amy shoved the rock letting it make a loud splash into the water. The snake like creature released its hold on Rouge, and slithered towards the splash at the other end.

"It worked!" Tails said happily.

Mighty hopped off the rock they were standing on and made his way closer to Rouge by running down the shoreline. "Rouge, get to the shoreline, now!"

Rouge was exhausted and tried to dog paddle to the shoreline. Mighty could see she was tired and dove in after to help. He swam over to her. "I've got you." He put his arm around her and used his other arm to paddle to the shore.

Tails watched as the snake creature near them, turned around and headed straight towards Mighty and Rouge. "It's coming back!" he warned.

Mighty and Rouge were very close to the shoreline at this point. Mighty helped get Rouge up onto the shore before himself. Rouge was gasping for breath still, but managed to pull herself onto the shore. Mighty quickly dragged himself onto the shore seconds before the creature swam past them.

Amy, Sonic, and Tails ran over and helped the two get further from the water. Amy got on her knees and examined the bite mark on Rouge's leg. It surprisingly wasn't too bad. Without asking any questions Amy ripped a tear in Mighty's shirt to use as a makeshift bandage for Rouge.

Rouge reached out and hugged Mighty. "Thank you, thank you," she said with gratitude.

Amy wrapped her leg. "You're going to be okay," she whispered.

Sonic patted Mighty's shoulder. "Good job, Might. You saved the girl."

Mighty smiled sheepishly as he received a kiss on the cheek from Rouge. "Thanks…" he blushed.

* * *

><p>Back at camp, night had fallen. Silver came out of the drop ship to cheering and laughter. He limped his way over to a campfire where the rest of the teen prisoners surrounded. Silver pushed past people to see why everyone seemed so excited. When he got up front, he saw Scourge and Drago sitting by the fire.<p>

"Fiona, baby, you're next," Scourge said as a red fox approached the two males.

She laid her right arm across a rock and Drago held her arm down. Scourge used his knife to pry underneath the wristband and break it off. Fiona hissed a little, as it broke free from her wrist. Everyone cheered as Scourge held up the broken wristband for all to see. Fiona rubbed her wrist tenderly as she watched Scourge throw it into the fire.

Shadow stepped out from behind Scourge and Drago. "Who's next?" he asked to the crowd.

"What the hell are you doing?" Silver snapped as he approached Shadow.

The ebony hedgehog looked his way. "Liberating ourselves, what does it look like?" he quipped in annoyance.

"It looks like you're trying to get us all killed. The communication system is dead. These wristbands are all we got. Take them off, and the ark will think we're dying."

"That's the point, _chancellor_," he cracked. "We can take care of ourselves, can't we?" he asked to the crowd.

"Yeah!" everyone cheered.

"You think this is a game?" he said in disbelief at the naivety of the group. "Those aren't just our friends and our parents up there. They're our farmers, doctors, engineers," he argued. He pointed to Shadow as he spoke to the rest of the group. "I don't care what he tells you. We won't survive here on our own. Besides, why wouldn't you want the rest of our people to come down?" he asked looking to Shadow.

Shadow smirked. "My people are already down here." He pointed up to the sky. "_Those_ people locked my people up. _Those_ people killed my mother for the crime of having a second child." Shadow walked up close to Silver and glared at him. "Your father did that."

Silver remained calm as he stared back at the hedgehog. He wasn't scared of his intimidation tactics. "My father didn't write the laws," he defended.

"No. He enforced them, but not anymore, not here." Shadow turned to the crowd. "Here there are no laws. Here we do what the hell we want, whenever the hell we want."

People cheered and clapped in agreement with Shadow. Silver looked around and knew he wasn't supported with his reasoning.

"If you want to try to stop me, then you're going to have to kill me. You know why?"

"Whatever the hell we want!" Scourge shouted.

Shadow pointed to Scourge. "That's right."

Everyone began to chant. "Whatever the hell we want!" Silver stared at everyone throwing their fist into the air while they continued to chant. A loud boom rumbled and everyone looked up into the sky. It was starting to rain.

Silver looked to the sky as it continued to rain down on them. "We need to collect this."

Shadow turned away from him. "Whatever the hell you want," he said smugly.

Silver walked away from the crowd. He knew he couldn't get through to these people.

* * *

><p>"I couldn't find any reason for malfunction of the bracelets. Do you think it could be radiation going into affect?" Jackson said.<p>

"I'm not sure. Everyone else seems to be fine."

Jackson looked back to the screens. "Abby, look at the plasma osmolality. It's going up across the board."

Abby grabbed Jackson's hand excitedly. "They found water."

* * *

><p>In the middle of the forest Amy awoke to the sounds of owls and other nocturnal creatures hooting and chirping through the night. She sat up and noticed a faint greenish blue glow emitting from around their sleeping spot. Along the trees of the forest were shrooms that emitted a beautiful glow. She looked behind her to see if the others were awake. Rouge, Mighty and Tails were cuddled up together as they slept.<p>

Amy got up and walked around noticing the beautiful plants around her. She came to a rock with moss that glowed the same along with some purple flowers. She admired the beauty of it. If only she could draw it.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Sonic said from behind her.

She jumped slightly and turned to face him. "What are you doing up?"

He held up a large leaf he had cupped into a makeshift bowl. "Went to get some water. Want some?" he said handing it over to her.

She took it and took a sip of it. He watched and smiled. "Think we're all going to grow two heads now?" he joked. Amy laughed a little only making Sonic smile more. "What do you know? She can laugh."

She smiled at him. "Come on, we should get some sleep."

* * *

><p>Back at the other camp Silver was sleeping up against the side of the drop ship when someone snuck up while he slept. A hand covered his mouth so he wouldn't scream. Silver immediately awoke and struggled against whoever was trying to silence him.<p>

It was Shadow. He held a gun in his hand and shushed the silver hedgehog. "Shh." He removed his hand from his mouth and instructed him to get up. Silver did as ordered and stood.

Shadow forced Silver by gunpoint to go out to clearing far from the campsite. "That's far enough." Silver stopped in his tracks and turned around. He figured Shadow was going to kill him. "I don't want to shoot you, Silver—hell, I actually like you – but I do need _them_ to think you're dead."

"Why? Why are you doing this, for real, not some crap about getting to do what you want to do?"

"I have my reasons," he stated simply. "I also have a gun, so I ask the questions, and the question is why aren't you helping me? Your dad banished you, and yet here you are, still doing his bidding following the rules. Aren't you tired of always doing what's expected of you?" he asked curiously.

Silver crossed his arms. "What's your point, Shadow?"

"Stand up to your father. Take that wristband off," he said pointing to it.

Silver put his hand over it protectively. "That's not going to happen. Is that clear enough for you?"

Shadow looked annoyed. "Yeah, it is." He cocked the gun. "I'm sorry it had to be this way."

Silver watched as Shadow put the gun behind his back and tucked it into the back of his pants. Silver was confused wasn't Shadow going to shoot him? Then out of nowhere Scourge and Drago popped out from behind and grabbed him. They forced him down and held out his right arm with the wristband. "Get the hell off of me!" he shouted.

Drago held him down while Scourge pulled out his knife. "Do it, man!"

Shadow stood off to the side and watched calmly, as Scourge forced the wristband off of Silver. "No!" Silver bawled.

* * *

><p>The next morning Amy, Sonic, Tails, Mighty, and Rouge went back to the rocky ledge where the river was. They needed to get over to the other side, but because of yesterday's experience they were forced to find another way of getting across. Mighty found a long vine they could use to swing across. It was fairly thick and quite sturdy. Tails held onto the vine as he looked across hesitantly.<p>

"You're the one that wanted to go first. Now quit stalling," Amy chuckled while watching the kitsune.

Sonic stood besides Tails and smiled. "You can do it, pal," he encouraged.

Tails took a deep breath before looking to his friends. "See you guys on the other side." He let go and held on, swinging across the river and then letting go as he neared the other side. Tails landed on some soft patchy grass. He rolled onto his side grunting slightly, but then got to his feet. He held his arms up in the air. "Yeah, I did it!"

The rest of the group cheered him on from the other side. "Yeah, Tails!"

From some bushes someone watched as Sonic, Amy, Rouge, and Mighty cheered on their friend. They looked over to Tails jumping up and down in excitement.

Sonic whistled over to Amy signaling for her to come. She climbed up some rocks and Sonic handed her the rope vine. "Let's go, princess. You're up."

She gave him a look from his ludicrous nickname he had given her. She grabbed onto the rope and could hear Tails encouraging her to swing over. "Come on, Amy, you got this!"

Sonic looked down at Amy. "Like I said to Tails, you can do this."

While Tails waited on the other side he found a rusted, slightly deteriorated metal sign. He picked it up and it read: "G.U.N Base." He held it up showing the others his finding. "We did it guys!" The others smiled as they were now very close to getting their food, supplies and other necessities. "Yeaah!" he shouted.

Then out of nowhere a spear came flying out and impaled Tails through the chest pinning him against a tree. Everyone looked on in shock, not expecting that to happen. Amy grabbed onto Sonic and stared at Tails staying still on the other side. "T-tails?" she asked with a shaky voice.

Mighty's mouth dropped as he looked over to his friend. Was he dead? "Tails!"

Sonic grabbed onto Amy. "Come on!" Amy fought to go over and help their fallen friend. "No, Tails!"

"Amy, we need to go!" he shouted while practically dragging her.

Rouge grabbed Mighty. "Oh god…" They ducked down behind some rocks as they looked behind them in the trees, bushes, and tall grass. They heard rustling as something ran around out of sight.

Amy looked around with panic on her face. "We're not alone…"

* * *

><p><strong><span>AN:<span>** Uh oh, who else is on this planet? Leave your reviews, questions or comments. :)


	3. Grounders

**Author's Note:** So, some of your are spot on with predictions yet most of you haven't seen this show before. It's crazy, since there are so many great TV shows out nowadays. (Better than movies IMHO) Anyway, I would like to thank, **Poeticlover1996**, **Sara lovelymusic**, **DrummerGirl.0104**, **BeltofVenus**, and as always **Kalex Chwell** for leaving lovely reviews.

Now time to get to the story.

•~•

* * *

><p>Sonic, Amy, Mighty, and Rouge ran through the forest back to their campsite. The four ran as fast as they could over dips, trees, and over logs. Amy stopped in her tracks and looked back. She didn't feel it was right to leave Tails behind. What if he was still alive? Everyone continued running until Sonic noticed she wasn't keeping up. "Amy, come on!" he said grabbing her hand.<p>

Amy continued running as Mighty was now leading the way. But as he dodged around some trees he tripped over an up root, and fell onto the soft patchy moss ground.

"Mighty!" Rouge exclaimed hoping he wasn't too badly hurt.

Mighty had face planted when he fell. He lifted himself up slightly to come face to face with a decomposed ribcage. "Aahh!" He scooted back away from the bones.

Rouge and Sonic helped him up and everyone noticed the bones scattered throughout the moss. There were standing in a skeleton graveyard. There were skulls, bones everywhere. Amy picked up one of the skulls lying on the ground. The skull was deformed and misshaped. It was probably caused from the radiation.

Sonic looked at the bones around him. "Who are they?"

Amy examined the skull in her hands. "You mean, what are they?" she corrected.

Rouge held onto Mighty. "We are so screwed."

A distant pained scream echoed through the forest. Everyone shot their attention to the scream. Amy instantly recognized who it was. "Tails." She dropped the skull. "He's alive!" She started running back towards his scream.

Sonic quickly pursued after her. "Amy, wait!" Rouge and Mighty followed behind. Sonic grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Wait." He made her duck down behind some branches with him. "Stay low," he whispered.

They looked through some branches to where Tails was impaled. His body was no longer there. Someone had moved him. "He was right there!" Amy said in a frantic hushed voice.

"Where is he?" Mighty asked as he and Rouge kneeled down besides them.

Sonic looked over to Mighty. "They took him."

* * *

><p>•~•<p>

Back on the ark Abby made her way to the monitor room. She entered the busy room as scientist walked back and fourth collecting data. Abby looked over to Jackson as he typed away on one of the computers. "Talk to me, Jackson."

"Rumors are spreading. Witnesses saw a drop ship launch. It's only a matter of time till the people figure out that we sent the hundred to the ground."

"Let the council worry about the people. I need you focused on reestablishing communications with those kids," she said to him. She looked back to the screen. "How many dark tiles?"

"Twenty three. We've been losing them at a steady rate all day." He pulled out his tablet. "Abby, these are different. Vital signs spike for a longer duration before flat lining; it looks like a pain response. This is what we'd expect to see with exposure to radiation."

"I know what it looks like, Jackson, but there's another explanation." She paused. "We just haven't found it yet…"

"Chancellor on deck," a guard declared.

Everyone turned around to give full respect and attention to the chancellor. Silver's father walked in limping slightly. He held an arm to his right side; he was still recovering from surgery. Councilor Kane walked in besides him. "How are you doing today, Jaha?" Abby asked.

"Fine," he quickly addressed. "What's happen-" he stopped when he saw his son's profile had gone dark. Across it had the words: "TRANSMISSION TERMINATED"

"My son…" his voice faltered. Abby looked and saw that Silver's profile had darkened. She felt his pain for losing his only son. "We sent them down to die," he growled.

"-No, we sent them down to live," Abby interjected. "To go to Mobius to see if it was survivable so that all of us could live."

Kane stepped in between them. "Abby, stop." He looked to the chancellor's pained expression. "I know this is hard, but we don't have time for false hope. This space station is dying, and Mobius is not survivable. That is what the wristbands are telling us."

"We don't know what they're telling us yet!" Abby said. She looked back to Jaha. "Please trust me. For all we know, those kids could be perfectly fine, including Silver."

* * *

><p>•~•<p>

Silver walked through the campsite watching the other teens rough house, and run around. It was getting close to the afternoon and Amy and the rest still hadn't gotten back. He started to worry if something had happened to them. He heard a girl scream and rushed over to see if they were in trouble. When he got to where he heard the scream, he saw Scourge forcing a girl's face close to the fire.

"Hey!" he shouted.

Scourge looked up. "What the hell do you want?"

"What are you doing to her? Let her go!" he demanded.

"We want them to think we're dying, so I thought I'd make it appear more convincing," he laughed.

Silver ran over and shoved Scourge back. He let go of the girl and she got up and ran away. Shadow came over after hearing all the commotion. "What the hell is going on?"

"It's him, Shadow. He's trying to screw up our plans!" Scourge said getting up.

"Well why don't you stop him?"

Scourge looked back over to Silver. "You're right." He charged towards him and tackled Silver to the ground. Scourge began to punch him in the face over and over again. Silver kneed him in the groin and Scourge dropped off to the side. Silver got on top of Scourge and started to repeat the same action by punching Scourge in the face several times. He stopped when he saw Scourge was compromised and got off.

"This bullshit needs to end," Silver said looking towards Shadow. Shadow remained quiet. He was impressed with Silver's fighting skills. He wasn't half bad.

Scourge grabbed his knife lying in the dirt and stood up. "You're dead," he grunted.

"Wait!" Shadow shouted. He stepped in and handed Silver a makeshift knife. "Fair fight," he said handing it over to him. Shadow stepped back as he allowed the fight to continue.

Silver held onto the knife and looked around. Another audience had surrounded the two. Scourge had some blood trickling down from his bottom lip. He held his knife and did some quick jabs trying to scare Silver. Silver dodged back avoiding the strike, and with quick movement he swiped his knife towards Scourge. Scourge avoided his swing and struck down with his own, slicing Silver's arm.

"Aaah!" he hissed pulling back his bleeding arm.

"This is for my father!" he shouted going in for the final strike while Silver was distracted.

Silver saw him coming and leapt out of the way. Scourge stumbled towards the ground but Silver stopped him by grabbing the back of his collar. He yanked him back and got his knife under Scourge's throat. "Drop the knife," he ordered sternly as he held him with his other hand. Scourge did as asked and threw his knife over to the side to show no harm.

"Silver!" someone shouted from behind. Silver looked and saw Amy, Sonic, Mighty and Rouge making their way down. "Let him go," Amy ordered with a disappointed tone.

Silver shoved him forward making Scourge fall on his hands and knees. Shadow watched as Scourge fell in front of him. He got to his feet in seconds, and went to lash out at Silver but Shadow grabbed him. "Enough, Scourge!" he scolded. His eyes diverted to the left when he saw Rouge limping while using Mighty as a crutch. "Rouge! Are you alright?"

He rushed over and took her from Mighty, helping her way down a small slope. Rouge put one arm over her brother. "I'm fine, Shadow."

Shadow looked around and noticed none of them were carrying anything. "Where's the food?"

Sonic sat down on a log. "We didn't make it to the base," he said catching his breath.

"What the hell happened out there?" he asked.

"We were attacked," Amy answered.

Silver's eyes widened. "Attacked? By what?"

"Not what. Who?" Sonic corrected. "Turns out not everyone died out on this planet."

"It's true," Amy said. "There are people here. Survivors," she specified.

Silver looked around. "Where's Tails?"

"They took him," Rouge responded.

Some of the people gasped in horror. Would it only be a matter of time before they were next? Amy looked down to Silver's bloodied arm. She noticed his wristband was missing. She grabbed his wrist. "Where's your wristband?"

Silver shot a glare towards Shadow. "Ask him."

Amy knew exactly what Shadow was doing. She glared at him as she approached. "How many?"

"Twenty four and counting," Scourge piped in with a smirk.

"You idiots... Life support on the ark is failing. That's why they brought us down here! They need to know the ground is survivable again, and we need their help against whoever is out there."

Shadow walked to the center for the rest of the group to hear him. "We're stronger than you think. Don't listen to her, we can take care of ourselves!"

"Yeah!" the crowd chanted.

Amy stormed off and Mighty tagged along with her. "Now what?" he asked.

"Now we go after, Tails."

* * *

><p>•~•<p>

Amy went inside the drop ship and started packing supplies. She looked for anything she could take. She ripped a seat belt and put it in her backpack. She heard someone climbing up the ladder to the second floor of the drop ship. Silver popped his head up and spotted her. "There you are." He pulled himself up. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

He walked over to her and smiled. Amy didn't smile back but noticed the cut along his arm through his long sleeved shirt. "I see you're making friends fast."

He looked down at his cut. "Oh, that? It's nothing," he chuckled awkwardly.

"Keep it bandaged. It could become infected."

He nodded. "Okay." He pulled off his backpack. "I got the parachute. I thought we could bring it with us to carry Tails."

Amy made her way over to the ladder. "Good, give it to someone else."

Silver followed her with a raised brow. "What, why? My ankle's fine."

She started going down the ladder. "It's not your ankle, it's you." She dropped off the ladder at the bottom where Mighty waited for her.

"Come on, you need my help," he whined.

"He's right, Amy. We need him," Mighty piped in. "So far no one else has volunteered."

"Not even Sonic?" she asked surprised.

Mighty shook his head. "No, he said there's no point. He thinks he's already dead."

She frowned. Well, screw him."

"You know Tails looked up to Sonic, but it just shows the type of people you shouldn't look up to." He started heading for the exit but Amy stopped him.

"I'm sorry, Mighty, but you're not going either."

"The hell I'm not, Tails is my friend!" he argued.

"You're too important. You were raised on farm station."

"So?" he scoffed.

"So, food is something we're going to need around here. You know how to crop." She hugged him. "I promise I'll bring Tails back."

Mighty nodded. "I hope you can keep your promise," he said hugging her back. Amy nodded and made her way out of the drop ship. Silver followed after her. Outside the drop ship, Rouge sat on a rock while Shadow kneeled by her side tending to her leg.

Rouge hissed as Shadow cleaned her wound with a damp cloth. "Ow!"

"What the hell was it?" he asked looking at the bite mark.

"I don't know. The others said it looked like a giant snake."

Shadow glared at her. "You could have been killed."

"She would've been if Mighty hadn't been there to pull her out," Amy said coming up behind him.

"You guys leaving?" Rouge asked wrapping her leg with bandage. "Because I'm coming too."

Shadow stood up in front of her. "No, no. No way in hell."

Amy nodded. "He's right, your leg's just going to slow us down." Amy turned to Shadow. "I'm here for you," she pointed.

Silver's eyes widened. "Amy, what are you doing?"

She ignored Silver's paranoia. "I hear you have a gun." He lifted up the back of his shirt showing the gun tucked safely behind his pants and smirked. She stared at it and smiled. "Good, follow me," she said starting to walk off.

"And why would I do that?" he asked slightly amused by her demand.

Amy stopped and turned. "Because you want these people to follow you. And right now, they're thinking only one of us is scared."

Shadow looked over to Scourge leaning against a tree. "Scourge, come with me." He looked over to Drago poking at the fire. "Drago, my sister doesn't leave this camp. Is that clear?"

Rouge rolled her eyes. "I don't need a babysitter."

Drago walked up to him. Shadow stared at him with seriousness. "If anybody touches her, they answer to me."

"Got it."

Shadow walked past Amy. "Let's go." As Amy and the others began to make their trek out, they passed Sonic. Amy shot him a disgusted glare that he saw and frowned at. "Some spacewalker you are," she said under her breath.

* * *

><p>•~•<p>

The four now walked through the woods back to where they last saw Tails. Silver and Amy walked besides each other. "Those guys aren't just bullies, Amy. They're dangerous criminals," he whispered so the other two couldn't hear.

Amy sighed. "I know, Silver…"

The two boys walked behind Amy a few feet away. Scourge walked with his hands shoved in his pockets. "Since when are we in the rescuing business?"

"The ark thinks the prince is dead," Shadow whispered. "Once they think the princess is too, they'll never come down," he explained.

Amy looked back at Shadow making sure they were keeping up. She didn't hear what the two were talking about. Shadow glanced to Scourge while still talking quietly. "I'm getting that wristband, even if I have to cut off her hand to do it." Scourge smirked as he followed besides the ebony hedgehog.

* * *

><p>•~•<p>

Back on the ark, a brown squirrel made her way down one of the corridors of the ship. She had a smile on her face as she walked past other members of the ark. A purple walrus stopped her when he saw her. "Hey, Sally, where you headed?"

"Hey, Rotor. It's visiting day at the prison," she answered. Councilor Kane was walking up behind Sally when he overheard her conversation.

Rotor smiled. "Oh, tell lover boy I said hi."

She nodded. "Sure thing."

Rotor continued walking off the other way when Kane came up from her side. "There's no visitation for at least two months."

She looked to the white hedgehog. "Why?"

"Some virus. Everyone's been quarantined," he lied. "I'm sorry."

She frowned. "I see…"

Abby was walking into the cafeteria when Sally came up from behind her. "Excuse me, Dr. Rose!" Abby turned around when she heard her name being called. Sally ran over to her. "I have a question about the quarantine. My boyfriend's in lockup; I went to go see him. Instead I saw open air duct." She crossed her arms and looked at Abby suspiciously. "Now, if there really was a virus, wouldn't you move them to contain the airflow?"

"The virus isn't airborne," she replied with quick thinking. "That's why the ducts are open."

Sally believed her. "Can you tell me if he's okay?" she said softening.

She shook her head. "I can't. I'm sorry."

Sally frowned. "No you're not. The council's hiding something, and I'm going to find out what it is." She turned around and walked out.

* * *

><p>•~•<p>

Amy walked with a quickened pace as she moved brush out of her way. Shadow jumped over some logs to keep up with her. "Hey, hold up!" He ducked under some branches. "What's the rush? You don't survive a spear to the heart."

"He screamed when they moved him. If the spear struck his heart, he'd have died instantly. It doesn't mean we have time to waste," she argued.

Shadow grabbed her right arm stopping her. "As soon as you take this wristband off, I'll start moving faster," he bartered.

She pulled her arm out of his grasp and got up in his face. "The only way the ark is going to think I'm dead is if I'm dead. Got it?" she warned.

Shadow smirked amused by her courage. "Brave, princess."

"Hey, why don't you find your own nickname?" a voice said from behind the four. Everyone turned around and saw Sonic. "You call this a rescue party?" he chuckled. "You gotta split up to cover more ground." He looked to Amy. "Ames, come with me."

Amy joined his side as he led the way. "Better late than never," she whispered under her breath.

"Heh, I like to think so," he said looking back over his shoulder at the four.

* * *

><p>•~•<p>

Sonic and Amy walked further ahead of the group through the woods. While Shadow, Scourge and Silver walked behind them. The whole time Silver kept his eyes locked on Amy. Shadow noticed Silver's burning stare on the two. "Guess we do have something in common," he said.

Silver casually glanced over. "We have nothing in common," he muttered.

"No?" he said with interest. "We both came down here to protect someone we love."

Silver looked at Shadow with a raised brow. Shadow smirked. "Your secret's safe with me," he promised. "It's worse for you though, with Sonic around, Amy doesn't even see you. It's like you're not even here." Silver just remained silent as he continued to walk with the ebony hedgehog.

* * *

><p>Later Sonic and Amy talked while they trekked. They had split up from the group and headed west while others headed east. "How come they didn't attack until Tails crossed the river? It's not like we were being quiet and they didn't know we were there."<p>

"They waited for us to cross…" She stopped in her tracks. "The river's a boundary," she realized.

"Which means the base is off limits…"

Amy scoffed in annoyance. "How are we going to get those supplies? What are we going to do for food?" she questioned. Sonic looked around before running over some rough terrain and hopping onto a knocked over tree. His ears perked when he heard a waterfall. Amy followed after him and looked to where he was looking. A small waterfall dropped into a shallow lake. "Well at least we don't have to worry about water."

Sonic made his way down to the waist deep water and began splashing it onto his face and head. "Oh, yeah!"

Amy kneeled down in the ankle deep part of the water, and used an empty bottle to collect some. Sonic turned around and grinned as an idea formed in his head. He playfully splashed her making some water hit her side. Amy looked up flinching from the water hitting her face. She wasn't amused. "Come on, Sonic. We don't have time for this."

"Ames, we've been hiking for hours," he laughed. "We need to take a break."

"I'll take a break when we find, Tails." She turned back around and started scooping up some water. Sonic waded over to her while she was turned away and grabbed her around the waist. In a matter of seconds he had pulled her into deeper water. "Sonic!" she yelled.

He laughed. "Sorry, Ames!"

She stood in the water. "Okay, fine maybe we can relax for a few minutes." The water was quite refreshing and cold from the heat.

Sonic smiled as waded in the water with her. "I think I know why you're so hell-bent on finding Tails- why you're always taking care of everybody else."

She was interested. "Go on, I'd like to hear you're riveting theory."

"You couldn't save your father," he stated simply. "That's why, right?"

She suddenly looked sad as she recalled that day. Amy stayed quiet not quite sure what to say, until she noticed something on the other side of the river. She got up and waded over to it. Sonic followed her confused as to what she had seen. On a large rock there was fresh blood dripping down the sides.

"Fresh," Sonic noted.

"We should get the others," Amy said.

* * *

><p>Back on the ark, Abby and Jackson remained in the monitor room alone. They were still trying to figure out why so many of the teens were 'dying'. "Anything from engineering?" she asked.<p>

"Nothing good," he replied. In the air ducts someone listened in on their conversation. "According to Sinclair, even if we sent a signal down, the wristbands weren't designed to receive, so the kids wouldn't even hear it."

"There's got to be something we missed, something we haven't though of."

A loud clang startled the two doctors, and they spun around and looked above them to one of the air ducts. Suddenly the air duct vents opened and Sally fell out of it. "Ouch!"

"What are you doing in here?" Jackson barked.

She crossed her arms over her chest and stayed quiet. Abby narrowed her eyes at the squirrel. "You have a thing for air ducts I see."

Jackson got up from his seat. "I'll call security."

"They're not dying you know," Sally said stopping him.

Abby stared at her. "What are you talking about?"

Sally looked to the screens with all the profiles of the one hundred. "All that is being sent from the ground?"

Abby picked up one of the demo bracelets. "Transmitted by these." She handed it over to Sally.

Sally examined it in her hands and a smug smile came onto her face. "They're taking them off," she said tossing it back over to Abby. Abby caught it in her hands and looked at Sally confused. How could she possibly know that?

"What, why would they do something so reckless?" Jackson asked in disbelief.

A smile formed on Abby's face, realization hitting hard. "Because we told them not to…"

* * *

><p>•~•<p>

It had been hours now and the five were beginning to slow down. "Hey, how do we know this is the right way?" Scourge asked.

"We don't. Faker thinks he's a tracker," Shadow replied smugly.

"You want to keep it down, or should I paint a target on your back?" Sonic quipped. He kneeled down on the rocky pebbles they were walking along and saw a blood trail. The blood was still wet. The group heard a distant moan from a far and everyone looked to where it was coming from.

"The hell was that?" Scourge said looking around slightly spooked.

"Now would be a good time to take out that gun," Amy said nervously to Shadow.

They made their way through some dense brush, and came out of it hearing louder moaning. Tails was strapped to a branch on a dead tree in a clearing.

"Tails," Amy said under her breath. He looked dirty and had scratches and blood on his chest. "Oh my god," she started making her way towards him as she stared up at the tree.

Sonic stayed back as she walked ahead. "Amy, be careful," he warned.

Shadow followed closely behind Amy, as they got closer. "What the hell is this?"

Everyone was staring up at Tails in disbelief that he was still alive. Amy wasn't paying attention to where she was walking, when she suddenly felt the ground underneath her collapse. "Aah!" She began to fall but Shadow reached out and grabbed her arm before she could. Inside the dense pit were spikes to impale the person or creature that fell into it. Amy looked up to Shadow as he held onto her with one arm.

Sonic came running up behind Shadow. "Amy! Get her up!" he shouted to Shadow.

Shadow hesitated for a moment. He could get what he wanted and have her die making everyone on the ark believe she was dead. He looked at her face and could see she was frightened. His conscious was fighting with him and he gave in and pulled her up. When she got back to the surface she landed on top of him.

"Thank you, Shadow," she panted.

Shadow groaned and pushed her off of him. "Whatever, just get off of me," he grumbled.

Silver helped Amy up to her feet. "Are you okay?"

She dusted herself off. "Yeah." She looked back towards Tails wrapped on the tree. "We need to get him down."

"I'll climb up there and cut the vines," Sonic said.

Silver began to follow him. "I'll help you."

"No. Stay with Amy." He shot a glare at Shadow. "And watch him." He had seen Shadow hesitate to pull Amy up. Sonic waved his hand at Scourge. "You. Let's go." Scourge looked to Shadow before following Sonic to help get Tails down. He hadn't understood why Shadow helped her either.

Amy noticed the wound on Tails where the spear had hit. It was now bandaged and sealed. "Why would they save his life just to string him up as live bait?" she questioned.

"Maybe what they're trying to catch likes its dinner breathing," Shadow theorized.

"Maybe what they're trying to catch is us," Sonic added as he began to climb the tree.

Scourge climbed onto the lower part of the branch where Tails' legs were tied. Meanwhile Sonic cut the vines tying Tail's wrist above his head.

"Be careful," Amy said from the ground. A distant growling distracted everyone and they turned their heads in the direction of the sound.

"What the hell was that?" Scourge asked looking around.

"Grounders?" Shadow asked aloud.

A large black panther snuck out from behind some trees and stared at the group of teens. It snarled before charging towards them. Amy backed up behind the tree. "Shadow, gun!"

Shadow pulled out his gun and aimed it at the charging feline. It jumped in the air and Shadow shot it in the head killing it. The animal fell on the ground feet in front of him. Shadow clicked his gun a few more times realizing that was his last bullet. He dropped the empty gun onto the ground. "Damn."

* * *

><p>Back on the ark Sally pressed a button on a communicator outside the monitor room.<p>

"Did someone call for a mechanic?" she asked talking into the microphone. The door slid open and Abby stood on the inside. "You're the one that called in the work order?"

"We need to talk."

Sally stepped inside. "Look, I told you I'm not going to say anything, okay?"

"I believe you, and you're not in trouble." She started walking further back. "Follow me."

"Not in trouble yet, you mean," she mumbled under her breath.

Abby pressed some buttons onto a box that opened a secret door. She led Sally though a hall onto another deck of the ark.

"This level's off limits for people like me."

"Not anymore," Abby replied. "You know that we sent the hundred down to the ground. What you don't know is why." Sally looked interested. "The ark is dying, Sally. Life support is on its last legs. I have ten days to prove that Mobius is survivable, or they're going to start reducing population."

"How many?" she asked.

"320 innocent people will be killed."

"I don't get it. Why are you telling me this?" she asked suspiciously.

"I looked up your file. You're the youngest zero - g mechanic on the ark in fifty years."

"Fifty-two," she corrected nonchalantly. "But so what?"

"So." Abby walked over to an object covered with tarp. She uncovered it revealing it to be an escape pod. "You have nine days to get this ready so I can survive a drop."

Sally walked over to it. "What a piece of junk." She walked around it touching the side. "When they found this thing they must have salvaged MIR - 3 in 2102." She chuckled. "You want me to get a 130- year- old escape pod ready to stand up to the inferno of re-entry in nine days?" she asked in a monotone voice.

"Can you do it or not?"

Sally stayed quiet for a moment as she thought about it. "Hell, yes, I can do it. But I'm going with you. You're not the only one with someone you love on the ground." Abby was about to interject but she couldn't bear to. She needed Sally to help her with this. "Those are my terms," Sally finished.

"All right, you can come with me."

Sally smiled. "You got yourself a mechanic."

* * *

><p>Rouge and Mighty sat by the campfire. It was dark now and everyone was starving from hunger. Someone saw some movement and realized who it was. "They're back!"<p>

Rouge's ears twitched and she stood up along with Mighty. Sonic and Silver helped carry Tails as they had an arm each around them.

Sonic and Silver carried him inside the drop ship. Mighty saw Tails' condition. "Is he?"

"He's alive. I need boiling water and strips of cloth for bandage," Amy instructed.

Shadow and Scourge carried something heavy in the parachute. They dropped it down onto the ground revealing it to be the dead panther. "Who's hungry," they asked a loud.

Teens cheered. "Yeah, awesome!" Rouge came up and hugged her brother. Amy walked back into the drop ship to attend to Tails.

* * *

><p>Later Amy wiped Tails' face clean of blood while Sonic kneeled besides her and helped.<p>

Outside teens lined up while Scourge and Drago helped free them of their wristbands. The moment the band was off their wrist they were handed a piece of meat on a stick. Shadow had made it a rule that if you wanted food you had to rid yourself of your band.

Sonic came outside after hearing the commotion and watched the display happen in front of him. He shook his head and scoffed at the idea.

Amy came out a few moments later. "He's stable for now, but without medicine…" her voice trailed off when she saw what Shadow had people doing by the fire. "They're taking off their wristbands for food?" she said in disgust. "No way. I-I won't do it," she stuttered.

"You don't have to," he replied calmly. He walked over and grabbed one of the sticks of meat by the fire.

Scourge spotted Sonic out of the corner of his eyes snagging the meat. "Whoa, whoa, wait, wait. What do you think you're doing?"

"Whatever the hell I want. I thought there were no rules," he replied coolly.

Scourge looked at him dumbfounded as Sonic walked off with the piece of meat. Shadow looked over and watched as the two walked off together. He growled under his breath. Amy and Sonic sat under some trees near the camp as they shared the meat together. Sonic took a bite out of it before handing it over to Amy.

She smiled and took a bite out of it. She was happy she finally had something to eat. Unbeknownst to them, high in the trees a figure sat watching the teens at their camp. He inched forward out of the shadows to reveal himself to be a red echidna wearing armor made out of human bones. He wore a leather mask that only showed his violet eyes through the darkness. These new creatures were interesting to him.

* * *

><p><strong><span>AN:<span>** Let me guys know how you are liking it so far? Leave a review! :)


	4. Haunted

**Author's Note: **Just a warning this is a looong chapter, but a good one. It'll answer some of your questions you left in your reviews. Sorry for the wait! Enjoy guys!

•~•

**Flashback: One-Year Ago**

Jaha, Silver, Amy and another adult male hedgehog sat on the couch watching old reruns of a soccer match. Silver and Amy sat on the couch besides each other cheering on their teams, while Jaha and a red hedgehog stood behind the couch and watched.

"There we go. There we go!" Jaha said excitedly while he watched the match.

Amy sat with her knees up to her chest as she held her breath. Her team was getting close to shooting a goal. Silver smiled and sat on the edge of his seat. "Here it comes, the momentum change," Silver said, as his team got closer to overtaking Amy's.

"Serve it up!" Amy shouted at the TV.

"Oh!" the red hedgehog shouted happily behind her. "Goal!" he cheered. The red hedgehog turned to Amy. "Right here!" he put his hand up and Amy high-fived him as they laughed. Silver and Jaha looked at each other disappointed, as their team had lost the game. "Ugh."

The door opened up and Abby walked in. "What'd I miss?"

"Your husband and daughter being obnoxious," Jaha said jokingly.

"Play nice," Abby said shooting a smile to her family's way. Abby walked up behind her husband and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Hey."

He smiled and turned his head to her. "Hey, yourself," he smiled back.

"So, I ran into Bennett when I was leaving the clinic and he has that system analysis that you asked for," she whispered. Her husband got a distant look in his eyes as he processed the information. He looked down at his watch before he walked off. Abby looked surprised. "You're going now?"

"Eh, just for a few minutes." He leaned over and kissed her on the lips.

Jaha looked over to the couple. "Everything, okay?"

Amy's father headed for the door. "Oh, yeah, you know. This old boat, it's always something."

**End Flashback: Present Day**

Amy sat besides Tails in the drop ship. She held his wrist with one hand, and with the other she kept track of Tail's pulse by looking at her father's watch. "His pulse is 380."

Tails moans in pain. "Oooh."

"Go back to sleep!" someone shouted from the bottom level of the drop ship.

"Yeah, quiet!" another person complained.

Amy kneeled closer to Tails while stroking the side of his face. "Don't listen to them, you're going to make it through this, okay?" Amy got up. "Keep an eye on him," she said looking at Mighty sitting in the corner. He nodded.

Amy walked out of the drop ship and heard a young girl scream. It was still dark out. "No!" Curious as to what was going on, she started heading towards the cries. A young cream-colored rabbit lays under a tree tossing and turning, while she talks in her sleep. "No, no!"

Amy kneeled down besides her. "Hey, wake up. It's okay." The rabbit awoke quickly from her touch and looked around. She was just dreaming. "You're, Cream, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, who are you?"

"I'm Amy."

Cream pulled her knees up to her chest, and stayed quiet. Amy sat down next to her. "You know it's okay to be scared. Do you want to talk about it?"

"It's my parents," she muttered. "They were floated and I see them in my dreams."

Amy put a hand on her shoulder. "I understand. My dad was floated too." There was a moment of silence between them. "So, how'd you end up here?"

"My parent's were taking things. Well, actually _we_ were taking things," she corrected. "My parent's were caught and I was caught assaulting a guard, when I tried to stop them from taking my parents away."

"I can't say I blame you," Amy replied. She looked to the sky. "See that bright star up there," she pointed. Cream looked up to where she was pointing. "That's the ark orbiting above us. I think whatever happened up there, you know the pain? Maybe we can move past that now."

"You're right, Amy. This is like our second chance." Cream rested her head on Amy's shoulder. Amy smiled down at the rabbit.

•~•

The next morning Scourge and Shadow were doing target practice with knives. Scourge threw a knife at a tree but the knife missed the tree and flew past it. Scourge growled in frustration from the moaning coming from the drop ship from Tails. It was distracting him from his practice.

"It's that damn kid, always messing with my head," he groaned.

Shadow held up his knife preparing to throw it. "He's not going to last much longer. Better think of an excuse." He chucked his knife with force and it flew through the air and plowed into he side of the tree. "That's how it's done."

Drago came through some bushes towards the two hedgehogs. "Look, Shadow. People are scared, and that dying kid is not helping morale around here."

"Morale will go up when I find them more food," Shadow replied. "We need to go hunting. Scourge stay here and keep watch. I'll take some of the boys and head out."

The boys nodded and left the section. Cream walked over and saw Scourge's knife lying on the floor. She picked it up and put it in her pocket.

•~•

Amy was back in the drop ship tending to Tails' bandages. She changed them and put on a fresh pair. Tails moaned and groaned in pain while she changed them out. "The grounders cauterized the wound. It saved his life," she said making an observation.

"Yeah, so they could string him up for live bait," Sonic noted.

Amy looked over to Mighty. "Any progress on using the wristbands to contact the ark?"

"That would be a firm no. Tails is more of the tech guy around here. I only know a little about this stuff."

Amy sighed and looked back to Tails. She didn't know how well her treatment was doing for the young fox. "My mother would know what to do."

Silver came up to the second floor from the ladder. "How's he doing?"

"How does it look like he's doing?" she retorted in annoyance.

"Hey, I'm just trying to help," he said in defense.

"No bother in trying. The kid's a goner," another voice said from the ladder shoot. Shadow climbed up and approached the group. "He's been like this for three days now. We need to put him out of his pathetic misery."

"No, he's going to get better," Amy, said stepping in front of him. "Please just give me a few more days," she begged.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "You have till tomorrow. If he's not better I'm ending it."

**Flashback: One-Year Ago**

Abby looked out her window in her cabin. The door opened and her husband walked in. He plopped down on a seat at his desk. He exhaled a deep sigh and placed his hand to his face.

"How'd it go, hun?" she asked.

"I told Jaha it's definitive. The ark's got a year of oxygen left, maybe two," he hypothesized.

Abby sat down besides him. "You'll fix it."

He closed his eyes. "Not this time…" He turned to look at her. "I've tried, Abby. This isn't a glitch. It's a system failure." Abby looked at her husband stunned and remained quiet. "People need to know," he stated simply.

"No. They'll panic," she interjected.

He shook his head and laughed slightly. "You sound like Kane."

"Because he's right," she argued.

He stood up from his seat. "No. We can't avoid the truth. We have to let everyone on the ark put their minds to a solution."

"What, and risk anarchy?" she interrupted. "It's too dangerous." She held his face in her hands. "Promise me that you'll obey the council's orders -that you'll keep quiet."

He pulled her hands away from his face and looked down. "I can't." He walked into his bedroom.

Abby watched him walk away from her. "For Amy. Do it for Amy."

He smiled at her. "I am doing this for Amy."

In the other room Amy leaned against the wall as she listened in on her parent's conversation. She couldn't believe the secret she had overheard.

"They'll float you, Jake," Abby said feeling tears come to her eyes. "If you do this, I won't be able to stop it."

**End Flashback: Present Day**

Amy sat down on the floor outside the drop ship. She had one of the makeshift bandages that the grounders had used on Tails. It consisted of a large leaf with some purple substance used as glue. She saw a pair of legs approach her and looked up when she realized it was Sonic. "You're mad?" he asked.

"I'm not mad. You want to think Tails is a lost cause, go ahead," she said looking back to the leaf in her hands. "But you're wrong."

"I hope I am," he muttered.

Silver walked up to the two when he overheard their conversation. Amy held out the leaf to Sonic. "Whatever this stuff is, it has to have had antibiotic properties." Sonic kneeled down by her side to examine it.

"Let me see," Silver said from behind them. Both Amy and Sonic looked up at him. Amy grimaced as the silver hedgehog approached. He could see she wanted nothing to do with him.

"Before you get mad at me, remember who aced botany in Mobius skills," he said kneeling by her other side. He took the leaf from her hand and looked at it.

"The grounders used it s a poultice. I'm thinking a tea might be even more effective if we can figure out what it is," Amy concluded.

Silver rubbed the substance between his fingers. "I know what it is. Seaweed."

"There must be a water source nearby," she said.

"Yeah, it would have to have a slow current, lots of rocks. The water would probably be more red than green," Silver explained.

Sonic beamed and snapped his fingers. "I know just the place."

Amy stood to her feet. "Let's go." Sonic and Amy walked off and Silver watched the two walk off. "Hey, I know what this stuff looks like. Do you?"

Amy sighed in defeat. "Fine, you can come."

•~•

Silver, Sonic and Amy walked through the woods together. "You know, you should really rethink about hating me," Silver suggested. "It's not just the grounders, we're surrounded by criminals." He climbed up a hill besides her. "We need each other. We're going to be friends again."

Amy walked a head of him. "You got my dad killed. Not possible." Amy quickened her pace leaving Sonic and Silver in the back.

"I'd let it go," Sonic whispered to Silver.

"I've known Amy her whole life. Better than you ever will, so, I'll decide when to let it go," he replied.

Sonic cracked a grin. "Yeah, I can tell you guys are _so_ close." Sonic's foot hit something metal under the dirt. He stopped and pounded his foot on it again.

Amy stopped when she heard the sound. "What is it?"

Sonic knelt down and rubbed some of the dirt and moss away to reveal a car door. He pried it open and looked inside. "It's a automobile," he smiled.

"Come on, guys. This thing's been here 100 years. It can wait, Tails can't," she said before walking off again.

•~•

In another part of the forest Shadow hunted a boar from behind some bushes along with Drago and a few other boys. He heard a branch crack from behind him and feared it was a grounder. He quickly spun around and threw his axe hitting a tree next to Cream.

The pig ran off and some of the other boys chased after it. "Get it!"

Shadow walked over to retrieve his axe when he came up to Cream. "Who the hell are you?"

She blinked a few times looking up at him. "Cream."

He plucked his axe from the tree. "I almost killed you. Why aren't you back at camp?"

"That guy who's dying? I couldn't listen to it anymore," she said shyly.

Drago came up behind Shadow. "There's grounders out here. It's too dangerous for a little girl."

She frowned. "I'm not little."

Shadow smirked. "Okay, then." He pulled out something from his pocket. "But you can't hunt without a weapon." He handed her a dagger and she took it from him. "Ever killed something before?" She shook her head. He smiled. "Who knows? Maybe you're good at it." He nodded his head signaling for her to follow them.

•~•

Amy, Sonic and Silver came to a shallow river with loads of rocks. "So what does this seaweed look like?" Amy asked as they stood at the edge of the water.

Silver pointed to some red stuff floating at the top of the water. "Like that."

Amy walked over to the edge and grabbed a chunk of the seaweed. As she walked back onto the shore, everyone turned when they heard birds squawking getting louder. They looked to the sky and a flock of birds flew straight towards them as a giant cloud of green gas crept up from behind the trees. Amy put the seaweed into Sonic's backpack.

"Let's get out of here," Silver said feeling uncomfortable.

An ominous horn trumpet echoed through the hills and forest. None of them had ever heard that sound before. Amy looked to Sonic trying to determine the cause of sound. "Grounders?"

"It could be a war cry or a warning," Silver deduced. The giant wave of green smoke started heading towards them.

"What the hell is that?" Sonic asked while backing up.

Amy backed up before making a sprint. "Run!"

**Flashback: One-Year Ago**

Amy sat in the game room with Silver as they played chess. Other people sat at other tables playing board games. Amy looked at the floor distantly after hearing the shocking news her father had discovered.

"Amy," Silver said staring at her distant eyes. He leaned closer to her, thinking she didn't hear him. "You're up." She continued to look away in a daydream state, and Silver reached over and touched her arm. "Amy."

She shook her head coming out of her daze. "Sorry…" She moved a piece on her side and sighed.

Silver watched her move and chuckled. "If your strategy is to lose really fast, that was a great move," he said before taking one of her pieces. "What's going on?" He noticed she wasn't quite herself today.

"Nothing," she lied.

He leaned closer and stared into her eyes. "You can talk to me," he whispered.

She took a deep breath. Silver was her best friend. She knew she could confide in him, and she just had to get this off her chest. She leaned closer so only he could hear. "My dad found a problem with the oxygen system. I'm not supposed to know."

"They've had other malfunctions. They always figure out a way to deal with it," he whispered back not thinking much of it.

She shook her head. "No. This one might not be fixable." Silver remained quiet not having an answer to respond with. "The council doesn't want anyone to know."

"The council meaning, my dad?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, and my mom and the others. I think he's going to go public anyway."

Silver looked at her seriously. "Amy, he can't. He'll get floated."

"I know…" She closed her eyes. "But what if he's right? Don't people deserve to know the truth?" Silver stayed quiet. He did slightly agree with her but he didn't really want a panic to start because of it. Amy could see he was conflicted with the information she had just given him. "You can't tell anyone," she begged.

He nodded. "Your secret's safe with me." He put his hand on top of hers. "I promise."

**End Flashback: Present Day**

"Amy, run!" Sonic shouted, as the gas was right on their heels. Sonic had managed to lead everyone back to the automobile he found buried under the ground. He pried open the door allowing Amy inside first. Amy and Silver jumped in and coughed after breathing in some of the gas. Sonic hopped in behind them and sealed the door shut from the inside.

•~•

In the other parts of the forest, Shadow and his guys ran away from the poisonous gas as well. They could hear the trumpet echoing through the woods as well. "Come on they're caves this way!" he shouted.

Cream ran closely behind Shadow as the gas was closing in on them. Shadow saw Cream was falling behind and quickly ran back. He picked her up in his arms and continued running. Shadow ducked into a nearby cave with some others. They went as far back as they could to avoid the toxic gas.

•~•

Back at camp everyone outside herded inside the drop ship. Mighty and Rouge were looking after Tails when everyone started rushing inside. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Air got thick, everybody's skin started burning," a green hawk explained.

Rouge looked frightened. "Mighty, my brother's out there!"

"He'll be fine," he said trying to ease her worry.

•~•

In the automobile Sonic was nosing around when he found the glove compartment. He opened it and found a bottle of alcohol.

Silver looked at the bottle in his hands. "Is that-"

"-Booze?" Sonic finished. "Yep."

He sat down besides Amy and cracked it open. He brought it to his lips and started drinking it.

"Careful, Sonic. It could be-"

"-Whiskey?" he said making a face from its potency. Sonic held his arm out with the bottle for Silver to try.

Silver looked at it like he was nuts. "Alcohol's toxic."

"It's Mobius. Everything's toxic," he quipped.

Amy grabbed the bottle out of Sonic's hands. "Let me try." She took a big swig and made a face after it burned the back of her throat.

Sonic laughed. "Not good, huh, princess?"

It was her first time having alcohol. "Yeah, no." Not her favorite drink. She handed it back to Sonic.

•~•

In the cave with Shadow and the others, it had gotten dark while they waited for the toxic fog to clear. Cream lay on the floor of the cave and had fallen asleep. She began to toss and turn again as she had a nightmare. "No, no!

Shadow touched her shoulder and shook her gently. "Cream, wake up," he said in a hushed voice.

She woke up and panted. "I'm sorry."

"Does that happen often?" he asked curiously. He felt sympathetic towards her. He remembered when he comforted Rouge when she had nightmares as a little girl. She nodded her head. "What are you scared of?" She stayed silent not answering. "You know what? It doesn't matter. The only thing that matter is what you do about it."

"But…I'm asleep," she said.

"Fears are fears," he stated. "Slay your demons when you're awake, and they won't be there to get you when you sleep."

"Yeah, but how?"

"You can't afford to be weak. Down here, weakness is death, fear is death," he advised. He looked down at the knife besides her. "Let me see that knife I gave you." She picked it up and handed it over to him. "When you feel afraid, you hold tight to that knife and you say, _screw you. I'm not afraid_."

She took the knife back in her hands and looked down at it. "Screw you. I'm not afraid."

He patted the top of her head and got up. "Slay your demons, kid. Then you'll be able to sleep."

•~•

In the drop ship everyone tried to sleep while they waited for the fog to clear. Rouge looked after Tails on the second floor. Tails was still in a lot of pain and would occasionally cry out. On the lower level, teens groaned in annoyance at the cries of pain Tails made from above.

Scourge was lying in a makeshift hammock between two pillars of the ship trying to sleep. He tossed and turned trying to tune out the painful moans from above. "Grr…that kid!"

"Shut up!" another teen shouted.

Scourge hopped out of bed and started making his way for the ladder. "That's it. I'm ending this," he spat.

Mighty was on the bottom level and overheard Scourge's threat. He quickly ran over and climbed up quickly. As his head peered on the other side he warned Rouge. "Scourge is going to kill Tails!"

Rouge's eyes widened. "Hurry get in!" Mighty pulled himself up, as Scourge was making his way up the ladder. Rouge slammed down the hatch and locked it.

Scourge growled. "Hey! Let me in!" he said while slamming the corner of his shoulder against it.

"No!" Rouge screamed back.

•~•

In the automobile Silver, Sonic and Amy were still trapped inside. Amy leant her head against the side of a seat. "It's been hours. Tails-"

"-Is in good hands," Sonic finished. "Mighty and Rouge will take care of him."

"While we're on the subject, why is it that everyone thinks me wanting Tails not to die is a bad thing?" She took another swig of the alcohol. "I can be fun you know? I'm not always serious. You think I'm fun, right, Sonic?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. She was clearly drunk. "Uh, yeah I think you're fun, among other things," he muttered.

"You're fun," Silver said. "Remember that time-"

"-That time you got my father executed?" Amy shot him a glare. "Yeah, I remember,"

Silver frowned and looked away hurt. "I'm sorry, Amy. I made a mistake." Sonic noticed the tension in the air and started to feel uncomfortable. The feud between Amy and Silver was unbearable to be around.

"I bet you couldn't wait to run to daddy," she sneered. "Tell him everything so that he'd finally believe you were the perfect son he always wanted."

Silver was biting his tongue as he held back as long as possible not to lash out at her. He looked away as she continued to rant to him, but he couldn't hold back any longer. "What do you want me to say?" he yelled.

"I want an explanation," she said feeling tears come to her eyes.

"I can't give you one," he spoke softly. "I thought I could trust him."

Amy leaned back into the corner of the vehicle. "Well, I thought I could trust my best friend. Guess we were both wrong," she droned.

"I'm still your friend," he spoke up.

She hid her face away from him. "No you're not. If you were my friend, you would walk out into that fog and never come back," she spat.

Sonic put a hand on her knee. "Okay…how about we just take it easy." He reached over and took the alcohol away from her.

"I have no idea how to do that…"

Silver reached over and grabbed the alcohol from Sonic and took a giant sip. There was an awkward silence after that, and Sonic looked back between Silver and Amy. "So, we having fun yet?"

**Flashback: One-Year Ago**

Jake Rose sat in his cabin as he pre-recorded a message for the rest of the people on the ark. "In this time of uncertainty we will come together as a people. I'm telling you this because you must know the truth, and because I want a future for my child and yours. Be strong." He leaned over and ended the recording.

"You're going to disobey the council?" Amy said from behind him. Her father was surprised when she appeared from behind him. He stayed quiet. She sat down on the couch. "Dad, I know. I heard you and mom."

He exhaled. "Okay, you know." He looked over to her. "I've been thinking about this for a long time. The people have a right to know. Your mother doesn't understand-"

"-What's the plan?"

He smiled at her. "You don't need to know the plan." He admired her wanting to help him.

"You're making a video, so, what? You're going to break into the communications mainframe?" He looked away confirming her idea. "This is suicidal and incredibly dumb."

"Wow. You are picking a fine moment to start behaving like a teenager."

Amy stood from her seat. "I'm going to help you."

"No. You're not," he said standing from his seat,

"But I can-" she yelled.

"Absolutely not." He walked up to her and held her in his arms. "You get that stubborn streak from your mother, you know." He kissed the top of he head. "One of the many things I love about both of you."

The door to their cabin opened up and five guards stormed into their room unannounced. "Jake Rose, you're under arrest for treason." Two guards came up and grabbed him away from Amy,

"Dad?!" She reached out and tried to stop them from taking him away. "No, no, no!"

Another two guards came and seized Amy from helping her father. Her father glared at them. "Get your hands off of her!"

She struggled in their grasp. "Let me go!" They released her and she ran and hugged her father for one last time. "I'll warn them. I'll find a way," she whispered into his ear.

His eyes widened. "No, Amy, no, listen to me. Do not do that," he warned as the guards dragged him away.

Amy began to cry as he left the room. Two guards grabbed her again. "No, let me go, no! Dad, dad!" she cried.

**End Flashback: Present Day**

The door to the car opened and Amy popped out of it. The toxic gas was gone now. "Come on." She pulled herself out and put her backpack on. "Let's go, Tails is waiting."

They began walking as Amy walked further ahead of the two boys. Sonic and Silver stayed further back. "Last night was pretty intense," Sonic said quietly to the grey hedgehog. "You and Amy ever-"

"-No. Not like that," he answered cutting him off.

"So, help me out. Your best friend tells you something fairly explosive. You seem like the type of guy to keep it to yourself."

"You don't know me."

"Why'd you do it?" he asked curiously.

"I don't know. Why do you care?" he snapped.

"You knew what the rules were on the ark. You had to know her dad would get floated," he whispered.

Silver stopped in his tracks. "I made a choice. If she hates me for the rest of my life, I made the right choice. That's all you have to know," he said before walking away.

Shadow and his group came out of the cave. "It's clear." They began heading back to camp. "Let's get back." The group started walking back to their campsite.

Sonic caught up with Amy and decided to talk with her. "Last night was, what's the word? Fun?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Hardly."

"You know you were kind of hard on Silver back there."

"He deserves it," she replied emotionlessly.

"You know he loves you, right?" he asked. "But every time your dad's brought up, he won't give you a straight answer." Amy remained quiet as Sonic tried to help clear Silver's name. "I think he's hiding something. So, I gotta ask you. How sure are you that he turned in your dad?"

She stopped in her tracks. "100%. He's the only one I told."

"Is he the only one that knew?" Sonic asked.

Amy opened her mouth to answer but stopped when she heard a familiar voice from a far. "Come on!" she heard Shadow say close by. Amy and Sonic ran off in the direction with Silver to where they heard Shadow.

They pushed past some bushes. "Shadow?" Amy asked while they got closer.

Shadow and his group turned when they heard his voice being called. "Well, well, she finally returns." Shadow said crossing his arms.

"We ran into some trouble," Silver spoke.

"You mean the toxic gas back there? Yeah, we did too. It ruined our hunting," Shadow said. He started to lead the way. "We're only a few more minutes away from camp. Let's go."

It was getting dark when the group finally got back. Amy made a beeline for the drop ship. "I'll need some boiling water to make the medicine," she explained to Sonic.

"Right," he said before jetting off to get it.

"Need any help?" Silver asked her from behind.

"No, I've got it," she replied dismissively.

Rouge came out of the drop ship when she heard Amy. "It's about time. Scourge was trying to kill Tails."

"I've got the medicine. I'm going in there now."

**Flashback: One-Year Ago**

Two guards escorted a handcuffed Jake towards the execution chamber. Jake walked with his head held high as he walked towards his impending death. Jaha, Silver, Kane, and his wife Abby stood outside the chamber doors as the guards opened them. Abby had tears running down her eyes as she watched her husband pass her.

The guards stopped him in front of the chamber doors to unhand cuff him. Jake smiled when he saw his wife. "Hey, baby."

Abby ran towards him and gave him one last hug. When he was unhand cuffed he embraced her tightly. Jaha looked away as he locked eyes with his friends. Silver looked uneasy as well, feeling sorry that his best friend's dad was about to be put to death.

"You have to warn them, Abby," Jake whispered to his wife as they embraced.

"Jake, stop," she whispered back.

"The ark's dying. There's no choice."

"Yes there is," she said. "There's Mobius. We'll at least have a chance."

The guards opened the sliding chamber doors and Abby pulled away from her husband. He took off his wedding ring band and placed it in her hand. "Here. Hang on to that." Abby began to cry as he placed it in her hand. Jake took off his watch and handed it over. "Give this to Amy, and tell her that I-"

"-Dad!" Jake looked over his shoulder seeing his daughter run to him.

"Amy? You shouldn't be here, honey!" Abbey said running to her daughter. "You don't want to see this."

Silver and two guards went over to restrain Amy, but she struggled with them.

"It's okay," Jaha said dismissing his guards. The guards stepped back and Amy ran to her father.

Amy hugged her father tightly as she cried. "It's okay," he whispered reassuringly.

Jaha cleared his throat. He hated having to cut their last moment short. "Jake. It's time." Silver glared at his father. He couldn't believe he would execute his best friend over this.

Jake kissed his wife one last time, and kissed Amy on the cheek. "I love you, kid," he said as he backed up from them.

"I love you, too," she croaked through sobs.

Jake stepped into the execution chamber and the doors sealed shut. He gave Amy a smile as he waited for the exit doors to be opened. This would be the last time he would ever see his family again. Jaha nodded to one of his guards that pressed the open button. The doors slowly opened on the opposite side, and in a quick second Jake was sucked out into space as the doors closed behind him.

Amy fell to the ground in shock as she watched her father get sucked out in oblivion. "Oh, my god…" she cried. "I'm so sorry…"

"Sweetheart, it's not your fault," her mother assured.

**End Flashback: Present Day**

Amy, Sonic, Mighty, and Rouge sat around Tails as they tended to him. They fed him clean water and wiped him off with a clean rag.

"He'll get better, won't he?" Rouge asked staring down at him.

Amy nodded. "He will."

"We got to stick together out here," Sonic said quietly.

Amy nodded. "He's right, we do. We're all each other…has." She got up and went towards the ladder.

Sonic watched as she started climbing down. "Where are you going?"

"To talk with Silver. I'll be right back." Sonic nodded and smiled. She needed to rekindle her friendship with him.

Silver was sitting out behind the drop ship alone. He rested his back against it as he looked at the dirt between his legs.

"Silver?"

He looked up and noticed Amy approaching him. He stood up to face her.

She rubbed her arm uncomfortably. "I know I probably don't deserve it, but I need to know the truth." He waited for her to ask her question. "It was my mom, wasn't it?"

Silver looked away trying to decide whether or not it'd be good for her to hear the truth. "She's the one who told your dad." His silence answered her question for her. She exhaled a shaky breath. "I didn't want to believe it. I-"

"-I knew how you would feel," he said quietly. "I wanted to protect you."

"So, you let me hate you?" she asked in shock.

He gave her a weak smile. "What are friends for?"

"How can you forgive me?" she asked feeling herself start to cry.

"It's already done," he said bringing her into a loving hug. Amy hugged him back and rested her head on his shoulder as she cried. Silver held her and rubbed her back as he rested his head on top of hers. "You're like my sister, Amy. I love you."

"I love you, too."

•~•

In the drop ship, Rouge, Mighty and Sonic sat near Tails and they finished up the alcohol Sonic had brought back. Rouge grimaced at the taste. "Yuck!"

Mighty laughed. "Smooth."

"Hey, can I get a hit of that?" Tails asked while lying down. "Maybe start with the smooth stuff first though?' he asked weakly.

Everyone got up and moved closer to him. "Hey, buddy!" Sonic said as he sat down besides him.

"Hey," he replied.

Mighty took a cup of water and fed him some of it. Tails sipped the cool content. "Thanks."

"I see someone is doing better," a voice said from the ladder shoot. Amy appeared and smiled when she saw Tails talking.

"My savior!" he joked.

Amy laughed. "Thank you for not dying."

"I'll try not to die tomorrow too, if that's okay," he joked. Everyone laughed and stayed close by.

•~•

Silver sat alone on a log on the outskirts of the camp. He was on watch duty and he watched as the night had ended and the sun was just starting to peak. He heard footsteps approach from behind and turned to see who it was.

"Hi," Cream said. "Are you on watch?"

"Yeah, I am. What's wrong, couldn't sleep?" he asked while gesturing for her to come sit with him.

"Yeah," she said timidly.

"Join me," he offered.

She sat down by his side. "I had a nightmare."

"Oh?" he asked interested.

"Yeah but I have them every night." She put her right hand into one of her pockets. "But I think I found a way to make them stop."

A bird, flying out from a tree distracted Silver and he looked to the left. With his moment of distraction, Cream pulled the knife she had found in the woods, and stabbed it into the side of his neck. "I'm sorry!" she apologized as it plunged into him.

Silver screamed out in pain before he fell to the ground and held a hand to his bleeding neck. He rolled down a small hill and gagged on his own blood. Cream watched as he withered in pain on the floor bleeding out.

Cream looked down at him. "Every night I see him," she explained. "Your father. He kills my parents. I see his face and then I wake up and I see yours. The nightmare never ends," she sniffed. "The only way to make it end was to slay my demons. I had to," she cried sadly.

Silver lay motionless on the ground as he stopped breathing. He had died. Cream got up and walked away from his body. She tossed the knife near some nearby bushes. She had completed her mission of slaying her demons. Now maybe she could finally put her nightmares to rest.


	5. Jury, Judge, Executioner

**Author's Note:** Thank you **PoeticLover1996**,** Sara lovelymusic**, **adar13** for your lovely reviews. I noticed a lot of you were shocked by Silver's death, trust me I was too when watching the show. I was like, "Oh my god!" Oh, and to answer some questions...

**Kalex Chwell:** You'll see that grounder again. I can assure you that. :)

**shadow 23:** I'm so glad my story inspired you enough to start watching the show. It's an awesome series and book. It's currently coming to it's season 2 mid season finale.

•~•

After three days the wall around camp was finally being constructed. Using metal, sticks and other miscellaneous items, the teens had managed to work together to build a community.

Amy kneeled down in front of a fresh buried grave. Amy had buried Silver a few yards away from camp. She placed a bouquet of flowers down on it and stayed quiet. She was alone as she gave a moment of silence for her lost friend. Someone came up from behind her as she kneeled on the ground. Amy heard them coming and spun around with a knife wielded in hand.

Sonic put up his hands up in defense. "You shouldn't be out here alone," he said. Amy lowered her knife after seeing it was just Sonic. "They got Silver just outside the wall."

"Says the guy who just got back from exploring the woods by himself."

"Yeah, but I'm reckless and irresponsible. Silver _was_ responsible, and look what happened," he said looking down at his grave.

"I'm only glad we were able to make up before this happened…"

Sonic noticed she started to become sad again. His eyes brightened when he remembered something. "I brought you something." He pulled out a pencil from his jacket pocket and handed it to her.

Amy's eyes brightened. "Where did you get this?" she asked taking it from him.

"The art supply store," he smiled mischievously.

"You know when we were kids, Silver was always getting me ink, charcoal, just anything I could draw with," she said reminiscing. "I found out he was trading his own stuff to give it to me." She sighed. "He didn't want me to know that, either…"

"He was a good guy," Sonic said softly.

"He let me hate him, so I wouldn't hate my own mother… My mother killed my father." She walked over to a tree stump and sat on it. "I just wish there was something I could do, to tell her I know. I want to make her feel what I'm-" her voice trailed off when an idea to came mind. She got up and headed inside the camp.

Sonic watched and caught up with her. "Hey, Ames, what are you doing?"

"To make her feel it," she replied not looking back.

•~•

Back on the ark, Abby was asleep on her desk as she was on monitor duty. Jackson sat besides her falling asleep himself in his chair. A loud alarm went off and both Jackson and Abby awoke to look at the computer screens. Amy's profile picture flashed red as her heart rate flat lined. The words, "Transmission Terminated" flashed across her picture.

Abby got out of her seat. "No, no!" She put a hand to her mouth as she started crying.

Jackson was at a loss of words and only stared at Abby sadly. Abby looked towards her partner and shook her head. "No, this isn't right."

Jackson put a hand on her shoulder. "Abby, I'm so sorry."

She shook her head. "Just because her wristband went out doesn't mean-" she took a deep breath. "It's the first termination in over a week, we can still assume things are stabilizing on Mobius," she declared.

Jackson watched as she got up and left the room. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"I need a moment," she said before leaving.

•~•

Back on Mobius, Amy, Sonic, and Tails sat in the drop ship after removing her wristband. Tails held her wristband in his hands. "Yes! I did it." He looked up at her. "It's still operational." He got up slowly, grunting a bit from the pain left over from injury. He limped over to a corner to work on the wiring transmission.

Amy got up rubbing her tender wrist and approached Sonic by the door. Sonic gave her a discouraging look for taking off her wristband. Amy shrugged. "What? Tails needed a working wristband."

"And you needed to punish your mother," he scolded.

She bent over and picked up her backpack. "Look, they're running out of air, and we need their help. My mother thinking I'm dead is only temporary."

"-Not if I can't patch it through the drop ship mainframe," Tail said from behind them, as he worked on the wiring. "I can do it," he said looking over his shoulder. "We'll be talking to the ark by nightfall."

Amy nodded to him before walking out of the drop ship into the campsite. After a week of fooling around Shadow had gotten everyone to help around and start working. People worked on creating tents, water buckets to collect fresh water, cook, and build up their campsite. Amy had to admit Shadow's leadership impressed her.

Scourge and Shadow stood side by side as they watched the others work. "This section should be finished by tomorrow," Scourge said to the black hedgehog. Two guys carrying a heavy log walked past them, but a grey pigeon carrying the log in the back fell to his knees. Scourge spotted him and walked over. "Hey! You think the grounders are just going to sit around and wait for us to finish the wall?" Scourge stood in front of the bird on the ground. "Maybe we should let the little girl do the lifting for you, huh?" he cracked pointing to Cream.

Cream was busy weaving a basket to carry food. She looked at the bird sympathetically. The pigeon looked up to Scourge. "I just need some water, okay? Then I'll be fine," he assured.

Shadow came up behind Scourge. "Scourge, get this guy some water." He looked over to Cream working hard on weaving. "Hey, you got this?" he said gesturing to the log.

Cream thought he wanted her to help lift it, and started making her way over, but Shadow stopped her. He laughed lightly. "I'm just kidding." He bent over and lifted the log up and carried it over to its section. Cream sheepishly smiled at him.

After Shadow walked away the pigeon sat on the floor trying to catch his breath. Scourge came back over and stood behind him and unzipped his fly quietly. He started to urinate on the bird's back. The bird jumped to his feet in disgust after feeling the pee hit his jacket. "What the hell is wrong with you, Scourge?" he said shoving him back.

Scourge stumbled back slightly but a brown and black lynx came up and grabbed the pigeon. The two restrained the bird while Scourge smirked at him. "You wanted a water break," he quipped. "Now get back to work!" he ordered.

Rouge and Mighty walked right outside the walls of the camp. "I still can't believe Silver's dead."

"I know. I wasn't close with the guy, but he still didn't deserve to go out like that," Mighty said.

"Maybe he's in a better place now." Suddenly she tripped over something and fell into the dirt. When she looked up, she saw a bloody knife in front of her. Mighty helped her up and saw the knife too. This was near where they found Silver's body, was this the weapon used to kill him?

•~•

Abby walked through one of the busy halls making her way to the escape pod Sally was working on. As she made her way there she saw Councilor Kane coming from the opposite way. He smiled when he spotted her. "Councilor."

She nodded back and kept walking. "Councilor," she responded back.

"Are you headed to mecha station?" he asked curiously stopping her in her tracks.

She turned around and tried to play it off cool. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I am."

He walked over to her. "You've been down there nine times in the past week. Is there something I should be made aware of?" he asked suspiciously.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you tracking me, Kane?"

He smirked. "I'm tracking everyone, Abby. Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all. But you're going to have to be inoculated," she stated simply.

"Inoculated?" he repeated.

"A mechanic came down with strep last week. She's fine now, but I'm still checking the bacterial levels in the station. We don't want another outbreak." He nodded rethinking about wanting to join her. "We can stop by sick bay on the way," she added.

"That's alright. I don't want to slow you down," he said. He started to turn. "Just keep me informed."

"Absolutely," she lied.

•~•

Abby entered the secret room with the stashed escape pod. Sally was busy working away at drilling and tightening bolts. "How soon can you get this thing ready to drop?" she asked.

"I'm still scraping up parts to fabricate a pressure regulator. We got two more days, right?" she asked.

"Can we launch without the part?"

"We could, but we'll be dead before we get to the ground. I mean like, ruptured lungs, air bubbles in the brain," she listed. "We need that part," she said while tinkering with the engine. "Why, has something changed?"

"Amy's wristband signal went out."

Sally got out of the escape pod. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean anything, right? She took it off like the rest of them." Abby remained silent, she wasn't sure that would be something Amy would do. For all she knew this could be serious. Sally read through Abby's silence and knew she needed to hurry. "Okay. I can get a pressure regulator today."

"How?"

"The less you know, the better," she said throwing her jacket over her shoulder and leaving.

•~•

Shadow, Rouge, Mighty, and Amy met inside a tent with the supposed weapon. "Who else knows about this?" Amy asked the group.

"No one. We brought it straight here," Rouge explained to her.

Amy held the knife in her hands. "It means the grounders didn't do it. It was one of us…"

"So, there's a murderer in the camp? Mighty asked.

"There's more than one murderer in this camp," Shadow stated. "This isn't news. We need to keep it quiet."

Amy started making her way for the exit of the tent, but Shadow blocked her path. Amy glared up at him. "Get out of my way, Shadow," she said.

"Be smart about this. Look at what we achieved—the wall, the patrols. Like it or not, _thinking_ the grounders killed Silver is good for us."

"Good for you, you mean!" she spat. "What—keep people afraid and they'll work for you? Is that it?"

He nodded. "Yeah, that's it. But it's good for all of us. Fear of the grounders is building that wall." He crossed his arms. "And besides, what are you going to do—just walk out there and ask the killer to step forward?" She looked away. "You don't even know whose knife that is."

"Oh, really?" she held up the knife. "S.H. Scourge Hedgehog." She said showing the initials engraved on the side of the knife handle. "The people have a right to know." She pushed past him exiting the camp.

Rouge and Mighty exchanged looks, and Shadow followed her out of the tent. Outside, Scourge slapped a cup out of a yellow monkey's hand. "No water until this section is up," he barked.

Amy came up out of nowhere and shoved Scourge forward. "You son of a bitch!"

Scourge spun around after stumbling a few feet from the unexpected shove. "What's your problem, toots?"

She held up his knife. "Recognize this?" Some of the other teens working stopped what they were doing to look at the spectacle in front of them. One of those people was Cream. She looked over when she recognized the knife that Amy was holding.

Scourge shrugged. "It's my knife. Where'd you find it, babe?" he reached out to take it from her but she kept it from his reach.

"Where you dropped it after you killed Silver," she accused. Mighty, Rouge, and Shadow came up from behind Amy and watched.

Scourge looked at Amy with narrowed eyes at her accusation. "Where I what?" he snapped defensively. Soon enough everyone encircled the two after hearing that Scourge possibly killed one of their own. "The grounders killed Silver, not me," he said getting in her face.

"I know what you did, and you're going to pay for it."

He smirked. "Really?" His eyes cast over her head to Shadow standing behind her. "Shadow, you really believe this crap?" he asked laughing slightly. Shadow crossed his arms and remained silent.

"You threatened to kill him. We all heard you," Amy said waving a finger in his face. "You hated Silver."

"Plenty of people hated him," he argued. "His father was the chancellor that locked us up."

"Yeah, but you're the only one who got in a knife fight with him!" she yelled.

"Yeah, I didn't kill him then, either," he interjected.

"You tried to kill Tails, too," Rouge said piping in.

Scourge looked at the crowd around them. "Oh, come on. I don't have to answer to you. I don't have to answer to anyone!" he shouted in annoyance.

Shadow raised a brow. "Come again?"

Scourge shot Shadow a pleading look. "Shadow, look," he said walking in front of him. "I'm telling you, I didn't do this…"

"They found _your_ knife near where he was murdered," Shadow stated simply.

Amy spoke to the crowd. "Is this the kind of society that we want? You say there should be no rules. Does that mean that we can kill each other without punishment?"

Scourge turned around. He was getting fed up with Amy. "I already told you. I didn't kill anyone!"

The pigeon that Scourge pissed on earlier spoke up. "I say we float him."

The rest of the crowd started to chant. "Yeah, float him!"

"That's not what I'm saying," Amy said looking at the bird.

"Why not? He deserves to float! It's justice."

"Revenge isn't justice," Amy argued.

The bird narrowed his eyes at Scourge. "It's justice." He put his fist in the air and pumped it. "Float him, float him!" he chanted. Soon enough the entire crowd started chanting the same thing. Shadow and Rouge looked around at the crowd.

Scourge went to tackle Amy but before he could someone stuck their leg out and tripped him. Scourge fell flat on his face in the mud and the entire crowd started to kick and punch at him on the floor. Amy was pushed back from people trying to get their in on hurting Scourge.

"No, get off him!" she shouted over the crowd. Four guys went over and tied up his arms and legs, and put a gag in his mouth. Cream watched in horror as Scourge got the punishment she rightfully deserved. The four boys picked up Scourge and carried him off. "Let him go!" Amy cried. This wasn't what she wanted.

The four boys tossed Scourge, having him roll down a muddy slope as his body hit at different angles along the way. Everyone cheered and laughed as they watched the torment unfold. A few of them took some punches his way in the face. Most of the people who did throw a punch were ones that had been mistreated by Scourge.

Amy broke free from her hold by two guys. "You can't do this!" she shouted.

Another boy threw a rope over a tree and made a lynch. They wrapped the rope around Scourge's neck and lifted him up before placing a bench under his feet for him to stand. Scourge gagged and struggled to breath as he was lifted.

Amy ran over to Shadow that just watched in awe. She grabbed him by his shoulders. "You can stop this. They'll listen to you!" she begged.

The pigeon came over and pointed to Shadow. "You should do it!" he said excitedly. He turned to the crowd to encourage Shadow to end Scourge's life. "Sha-dow. Shadow, Shadow!" he chanted.

Amy looked at Shadow with desperation. "Shadow, you're not a killer." Shadow turned away from her and headed for Scourge. Amy followed after him. "Don't do this, Shadow, don't!" she begged.

Sonic was getting back from another run around the woods when he heard chanting coming from camp. It sounded bad and he quickly rushed back to find out what was happening.

"Please, Shadow, don't!" Amy begged one last time. Shadow gave her an irate look before he kicked the bench from underneath Scourge. Scourge dropped down from his perch and started to suffocate. The crowd cheered. This is what they wanted.

Cream watched in utter horror and felt tears come to her eyes. Amy punched Shadow on his shoulder. "How could you!" she screamed.

Shadow glared at her. "This is on you, princess!" he argued back. "You should've kept your mouth shut!"

Sonic pushed his way through the crowd. "What the hell are you doing?!" He shoved people out of the way. "Cut him down!" He looked to Cream who looked terrified. "Cream, get out of here, now!"

"Just stop okay!" Cream screamed. "Scourge didn't kill Silver!" she shouted. Everyone became silent. "I did!" she admitted.

Amy gasped. "Oh my god..." She grabbed Shadow's axe from his waist and quickly cut down the rope-hanging Scourge. Scourge's body collapsed to the floor, he was still alive as he gasped for air. Shadow looked at Cream disappointed. How could a little girl do this?

•~•

Back on the ark, Sally made her way to the empty cafeteria. As she entered the room a giant ape blocked her path. "Lunch isn't being served yet," he stated sternly.

Sally looked up and him and tried to move around him. "I'm not hungry. I'm here to trade," she said not fazed by the ape.

"Well, well, well," a snide voice said from behind the ape. "It's fine, Simian." The ape nodded and moved out of her path. "How long has it been, little squirrel?" a male purple weasel said.

Sally walked up to the weasel confidently. "Hello, Nack. I need a pressure regulator."

"What for?" he asked curiously.

"Regulating pressure," she replied sarcastically.

"That's good," he chuckled in amusement. "I see you got your mother's sense of humor."

She wasn't here to beat around the bush. "What do you want for it?"

"I don't move machine parts anymore, girly. It's too dangerous," he said taking a seat at one of the tables. "How about settling for some herb or moonshine like everybody else?"

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, as she sat on the edge of a table opposite of him. "Save the act for someone who doesn't know better. Just tell me what it's going to take."

Nack drummed his fingertips along the table as he thought of an idea. "You know, I owe a favor to the chief of electrical, and he's got a thing for pretty girls like yourself," he smirked.

She gave him a deadpan expression. "You're joking, right?"

"I never joke about business, baby. Kane's watching my every move, so if I'm gonna do this, you're gonna need to make it worth my while."

"By screwing the chief of electrical?" she asked in disbelief. He put his hands up innocently. "I can't do that," she replied.

"Then I guess you don't need to regulate pressure that badly."

Sally turned on her heel. "Go float yourself, Nack."

"You know, your mother would've taken that deal," he said as she retreated. Sally stopped in her tracks and snarled under her breath. "In fact, she did. Many times," he quipped with a sly grin.

Sally turned around charging towards him. "Don't you dare talk about my mother that way!" she shouted.

"Simian!" Nack called with composure. He wasn't scared of Sally. The ape came over and restrained Sally as he carried her out of the room. "Goodbye, little squirrel," he said waving with a smug smile.

Sally thrashed in Simian's grip as he carried her over one shoulder. "No, I'll float you, Nack! I swear!" She kicked and screamed. "Put me down!"

•~•

"Bring out the girl, Shadow!" Scourge shouted from outside the tent. The hundred stood outside waiting for the decision for Cream's crime. Amy, Shadow. Sonic, and Cream stood in the tent discussing matters.

"Why, Cream?" Shadow asked sternly as he looked at her.

"I was just slaying my demons, like you told me!" she defended.

Amy and Sonic looked at Shadow in shock. "What the hell is she talking about?" Amy asked.

"She misunderstood me," Shadow debated. He looked to Cream. "Cream, that is not what I meant."

"Bring the girl out now!" Scourge shouted from outside again. His patience was growing thin.

Cream looked to Amy. "Please don't let them hurt me," she begged becoming scared.

Shadow looked to the other two. "If you guys have any ideas, speak up," he encouraged. Sonic and Amy tried to think of a plan but came up with nothing. "Now you stay quiet," he barked in annoyance.

"Those are your boys out there," Sonic said pointing towards them.

"If the princess had kept her yap shut, they would've kept building the wall!" he shouted back.

Cream pulled on Shadow's hand. "Please don't let them hurt me, Shadow!"

Shadow kneeled down to her level. "Cream, it's going to be okay," he promised. He looked to Sonic and Amy. "Just stay with them."

Shadow came out from the tent to face the crowd. Scourge approached the hedgehog. "It's about time, stripes."

"Dial it down and back off." Shadow warned.

Scourge got closer to him. "Or what? You gonna hang me again?"

"I was just giving the people what they wanted," he argued.

"Yeah, that' a good idea…" He turned to the crowd. "Who here wants to see the real murderer hung up?" Only seven people raised their hand and they were Scourge's crew. Scourge grimaced. "I see how it is. When this little bitch confesses you want to let her walk, but when I don't do it you want to hang me?" he screamed.

Everyone remained quiet and looked around. "Scourge, it's over," Shadow shouted.

Scourge stepped back and shrugged. "Whatever you say, boss." Shadow turned around and headed back for the tent. Scourge grabbed a spare log off the ground and knocked Shadow out from behind.

Rouge ran towards Scourge. "You son of a bitch!" Mighty went to hold her back but was punched out by Drago. Rouge dropped to her knees to tend to both her brother and Mighty. "Oh god!"

Lightning, Drago, and Sleuth followed Scourge as they raided the tent. When they looked inside, Amy, Sonic and Cream were gone. Scourge growled. "Cream, when I find you, your gonna pay!" he raged.

Sonic led the two girls away from the camp. He had a place where they could hide.

•~•

**Author's Note:** I split this chapter into two since it was too long in my opinion. So the next chapter will be a continuation of this one. :) Hope you all are enjoying. Remember to read and review! Until next time.


	6. Banished

**Author's Note:** I'm back with the second half of the chapter. I hope you all like this story. I've pre-written a few more chapters and I'm working one editing and whatnot. I'm also working on another story at the same time. Hope you all are having a lovely December! I'll be updating even over the holiday, so expect to see new chapters all December. :)

•~•

Back on the ark, Sally waited in line outside the medical clinic. There was already a fairly long line outside the doors as families with young children lined up to see doctors. Some of the children had masks on their face to give them oxygen. The door opened and Abby walked out as a patient left.

Sally pretended to cough in her hand to get Abby's attention. "Ahem, ahem." Abby turned away from the next patient in line and walked up to Sally. She knew she needed to talk to her. "Come on." She grabbed Sally and led her inside. "I'll be right back," she told the rest of the patients that groaned at Sally cutting line.

"What's wrong with all of them?" Sally asked as she entered the medical ward.

"Oxygen deprivation," she explained. "It's just the beginning. Why are you here?"

"I messed up. I can't get the part," she explained. "Nack wants me to, well…."

"-You went to Nack?" she asked cutting her off.

"Yeah," she said slightly ashamed of herself.

"Kane's been trying to get him for years. Did anybody see you?"

"I don't know. Abby, I'm trying to tell you we can't launch today."

"Are you sure Nack has the part?" Abby asked suspiciously,

"He can get one, yeah."

"I'll take care of it," Abby said dismissively.

"What are you going to do?" she asked confused.

"The less you know the better," she smiled.

•~•

"It's going to be night soon, Sonic. Where are we going?" Amy asked as they trekked further into the woods.

"You'll see," he said as he led the way. While the three walked Cream reached for Amy's hand but Amy pulled away.

"Hey, don't touch me!" she sneered. Cream blinked in surprise at Amy's reaction. "Don't think I've forgiven what you've done, Cream…" Sonic stopped and turned when her heard Amy snap at the child.

"—B-but," she stammered.

"No, you killed someone, Cream. One of my best friends!" she accused.

"Cream!" Scourge shouted in the distance. "Amy and Sonic can't save you!" he cackled. Sonic nodded his head for the two to continue walking.

"C'mon we're close." The three continued journeying a little farther and came to a part of the woods and stopped. Sonic bent down and opened up a metal hatch covered by some dirt. "Get in," he instructed. Cream climbed down a ladder and looked around. It was a bunker. Amy climbed in down behind Cream and was surprised by Sonic's hiding place. Sonic climbed in behind them and turned on a flashlight he had.

Inside the bunker was a bed, shelves of canned food, candles, a couch, table, chairs, pictures, pens, pencils all sorts. "What is this place?" Amy asked.

"Right now, home."

•~•

Later, Sonic finished tucking Cream into bed while Amy finished lighting candles. "I can't believe you kept this place quiet, Sonic," she said in a hushed slightly annoyed voice.

"Come on, Ames. What would be the point of telling anybody?"

"Some of this stuff could be useful," she said gesturing around with her arms.

"Like what? There are no weapons." He pointed to the canned food. "All the food expired, like, 90 years ago."

"Yeah, but we could repurpose. Share with the group."

"You can share this with the group if you'd like," he said handing over a jar of assorted colored pens. Amy took the pens and pulled some of them out. She smiled looking at all the different colors. Sonic grinned when he saw her smile.

They sat down on the couch across from where Cream was sleeping. Amy looked her way. "What are we going to do about her?" she whispered. "If I hadn't confronted Scourge none of this would've happened."

"How could you know it'd go down like that?"

"Shadow knew." She sighed. "We think the grounders are a threat. Now we're killing each other. She killed my best friend…"

"Hopefully we can figure something out before Scourge kills us for helping her," Sonic whispered. "He's not the forgive an forget type." Unbeknownst to them, Cream was awake as she listened to the two discuss their dilemma. She knew what she had to do in order to keep them safe.

•~•

Abby was back in mecha station and handed Sally a pressure regulator. Sally took it in surprise. "How did you-"

She cut her off. "-Don't worry about it. How fast can you install it?"

"A few hours maybe?" she deduced.

"We may not have that much time," she warned.

Sally nodded. "I'm on it."

Kane walked into the cafeteria. He had been told to meet Nack on his orders. "Why did you bring me down here, Nack? What do you want? He did not want waste time listening to bullshit.

"I have something for you," he grinned mischievously.

"Unless it's a signed confession, I'm not interested," he said already impatient.

"Not even if it involves your friend Abby Rose?" he asked while tilting his head.

He raised a brow and stared at him skeptically. "What about Abby?" he asked now semi interested.

"She and a girl named, Sally Acorn asked me to get them a pressure regulator," he started. "As a lowly culinary tech, I didn't feel I had a choice when one of your fellow councilors asked me to help her break the law," he explained innocently.

"And since when do you give up your customers?" he asked with a grin.

"I don't have customers, Mark." He leaned back in his chair calmly. "I am a citizen of the ark, and I don't believe anyone should be above the law. Do you?" he asked with a raised brow.

He looked at him in disgust. "You're a plague on this ship, Nack."

"You should be thanking me, Kane." He handed over a packet of morphine to show the proof. "This was her trade off."

•~•

Back in the bunker, Sonic and Amy were fast asleep. Sonic had his feet kicked up on the table in front of him, as he slept with his head tilted back and his arms crossed. Amy had her head rested against his shoulder curled up next to him. She began to stir and noticed that Cream was no longer in her bed. "Sonic, wake up!" she said shaking him. "She's gone." Sonic jumped to his feet when he saw the rabbit was missing.

•~•

Outside in the dark, Cream ran around alone in search for Scourge and his guys. She was lost though as she ran around by herself. Suddenly out of nowhere someone grabbed her from behind, and put a hand to her mouth. She screamed. "Aaaah!"

The person hushed her. "Sshh!" He revealed himself in the moonlight. It was Shadow.

Meanwhile in another part of the woods, Scourge, Sleuth, Lightning, and Drago ran through the forest with lit torches trying to find Cream. "Cream!" Scourge shouted. "You can't hide forever."

"Don't worry. We don't hurt you!" Sleuth shouted.

Shadow dragged Cream by the hand through the woods. "Let me go!" she cried.

"Hey, I'm trying to help you!" he said looking back at her.

"Well don't!" she shouted. She ran away from him. "I'm over here!" she shouted trying to get Scourge's attention.

Shadow ran and grabbed her from around the waist. "Are you trying to get us both killed?"

"Just go, okay? I'm the one they want."

Shadow put his hands on her shoulders. "Cream, listen to me. I won't leave you."

"Please, Shadow." She started to run away again but Shadow picked her up and threw her over his right shoulder. Cream kicked and screamed trying to get free. "Scourge, I'm over here!"

Shadow growled in frustration. "Shh!"

Scourge was nearby when he heard her screaming his name. He and his boys charged in that direction. "Come on out, Cream!" Sonic and Amy were trying to track down Cream when they heard her screams. They also followed in the same direction.

•~•

Abby paced back and forth next to Sally as she worked. Sally was busy screwing in the pressure regulator. "Abby, why don't I pace while you're in the O.R. next time?" she laughed.

Abby didn't laugh. Her tablet started beeping and she slid a finger across the screen to answer the call. Jackson appeared on the screen. "Abby, did you take morphine from the clinic?" he asked quietly but anxiously.

"They inventoried already?" she asked in surprise.

He shook his head. "No. Kane was just here. He's on his way to mecha to arrest both of you right now!" he warned.

"You gave Nack morphine? Sally asked in surprise.

Abby narrowed her eyes. "He turned me in," she said in an aggravated voice. She looked up to Sally. "How much longer?"

"Twenty minutes?" she guessed.

"They're going to be here in five." Abby sighed trying to think of a new plan. "No matter what happens, you launch that pod. Do you understand?"

"I'm not going without you," Sally said stepping out of the pod.

"Only one of us needs to get to the ground, Sally. The second you find those kids, you radio back. 300 innocent people will die if you don't," she warned.

Sally looked to the ground sadly. "Abby, they'll float you…"

She kept a brave face. "Then they'll float me..." Sally and Abby hugged. "Tell Amy I love her," she gasped.

•~•

Shadow was still carrying Cream through the woods, as Scourge and his boys were getting closer. "Put me down!" she cried.

"Cream!" Scourge shouted. He knew he was hot on her trail.

Shadow skidded to a halt when he came to a rocky cliff. He put Cream down on her feet. He had nowhere to go now. "Damn it."

Scourge popped out of the bushes with his boys. "Shadow!" He looked to Cream. "Give her up."

Amy and Sonic popped out of the same bushes behind Scourge and his boys. "Shadow?" She looked to Scourge. "This has gone too far," she spat.

Scourge glanced over to Cream and then over to Amy. He pulled out his knife and pulled Amy against him, holding a knife to her throat. Amy gasped in surprise. "I'm sick of listening to you talk," he said in her ear as he glared over to Cream.

Sonic stepped forward. "Let her go!"

"I will slit her throat if you step any closer, blue!" he threatened. Sonic obeyed his order and stayed back, but he kept his eyes locked on Amy.

"No, please. Please don't hurt her," Cream begged.

"Don't hurt her?" Scourge asked interested. "Okay, I'll make you a deal. You come with me right now, and I will let her go," he bartered.

"Don't do it, Cream," Amy said holding onto the arm around her neck.

Cream went to step forward but Shadow blocked her with his arm. "No, I have to!" she whined.

Shadow gave her a look and stood in front of her. He looked back the green hedgehog. "Scourge, this is not happening, we-."

Cream walked around him. "- I can't let any of you get hurt anymore," Cream said sadly. "Not because of me. Not after what I did."

Cream turned around and jumped off the edge of the cliff. Scourge pulled away his knife and ran to grab her, releasing Amy. "Cream!" Amy screamed in horror as she fell to the ground.

Shadow tried to grab her but missed. "No!" He fell on his knees and it started to drizzle down on them.

Both Shadow and Amy looked down over the edge in shock. "No, no, no!" Amy cried.

Shadow got to his feet and had a look of enragement as he stared hard at Scourge. Scourge backed up slightly. "Shadow, man..."

Shadow said no words and charged at Scourge. He tackled him to the ground and punched him repeatedly in the face. Amy got off of her knees and tried to pull Shadow off of him. "Shadow, stop! You'll kill him."

Sonic came and yanked him off of Scourge. Shadow thrashed around. "Get off of me, faker! He deserves to die!" he said pointing at Scourge's bloodied battered face.

Amy stepped in between them. "No. We don't decide who lives and dies! Not down here," she begged with tears.

He glared at her. "So what do we do with him?!" he barked while pointing at Scourge.

Amy looked down at him when an idea came to mind. "We banish him," she said.

Shadow grabbed Scourge by the collar of his shirt and yanked him to his feet. "If I ever catch you near camp again, I'll kill you. Understand?" Scourged nodded and he dropped him onto his knees. "As for the three of you," he said looking at his boys. "You come back to camp with me, or follow him and be banished." The others followed after Shadow. They weren't going to be banished too.

Everyone walked away leaving Scourge lying in the mud as it rained down. Sonic looked down at him sympathetically before dropping him his old knife. "You'll need this."

•~•

Back on the ark, Sally was nearly finished installing the regulator. Meanwhile, Abby sat outside the doors to the mecha room when Kane and his guards stopped in front of her. "I'm hoping there is an explanation for this," Kane said staring at her sternly.

She slowly looked up at him. "My daughter..."

He softened. "I know. I'm sorry. We all knew it was a long shot."

"I still believe," she said while standing.

"What's the pressure regulator for, Abby?" he said circling around her. She remained quiet not answering his question. "There is no bacteria is there?" he questioned.

"You don't understand," she said with tears running down her face. "I'm trying to save all of us."

He sighed seeing she wouldn't comply with him. "Arrest her…" Kane walked away. "Continue the search for Sally Acorn."

"Yes, sir," one of the guards responded. Another guard put Abby's hands behind her back and hand cuffed her. Abby didn't retaliate at all since she was trying to stall time for Sally.

As one of the guards reached for the security code box to the mecha room, a loud boom startled everyone. The guards looked to the door in surprise.

Out in space, an escape pod did flips as it detached from the ark and headed towards Mobius. Sally wore an astronaut space suit as she tried to regulate her trajectory. She flipped switches, and pressed buttons, as alarms were buzzing off as her pod was going off course.

"What was that?" Kane asked walking back towards his guards.

"Sir, a pod launched," one of the guards explained. Abby smiled in relief knowing Sally was able to escape.

He saw her faint smile and marched over to Abby, grabbing her by her shoulders. "Abby, what have you done?"

"We have to know the truth," she replied with a straight face. Kane walked off in frustration and the other guards escorted her to prison.

•~•

Back at camp, Amy explained to the rest of the hundred what happened to Scourge and Cream. "That's why we decided to banish him," she finished.

"Anybody got a problem with that?" Shadow asked the group. Everyone shook their heads, and then dispersed back to what they were doing.

Amy looked to Shadow. "Thanks." He said no words before walking away. He was still infuriated that Cream had died.

Sonic came up by her side. "You okay?"

She nodded. "As okay as I can be," she replied solemnly.

Rouge came out of the drop ship and waved over to Amy. "Hey, Tails thinks he's got it!" Amy nodded and the two walked towards the drop ship.

•~•

Inside the drop ship, Tails was still diligently working on connecting the wristbands as a communication device. He tinkered with the wiring to the drop ship's mainframe. Rouge, Mighty, Amy and Sonic stood around Tails while he worked.

"Will we be able to talk to them?" Amy asked.

"More like Morse code." Tails looked to Mighty. "You want to do the honor?" Mighty stepped up next to Tails. Tails handed him a red wire. "That port right there," he instructed. Mighty used the wire to connect to the port, but when he touched it, it made a loud zap.

Suddenly everyone's wristbands around camp unclicked, and dropped off their wrist while giving them a small shock. "Whoa!" teens said in surprise.

•~•

Back on the ark in the monitoring room, Jackson's computer bugged out and he lost connection. The words "Video Error Connection Failed" appeared on his screen. "What the…" Alarms started blaring as the rest of the hundred began to terminate one by one right before him. "What the hell?"

•~•

Back on Mobius in the drop ship, Tails looked at the wristbands. "What happened?" Amy asked with concern.

"It didn't work…" He closed his eyes and gave a frustrated sigh. "I think we just fried all the wristbands…" Sonic's face became disappointed and he stormed out of the drop ship. Amy saw how upset he was and followed after him.

•~•

Sonic had run back to the bunker, to channel his anger. He flipped over a table in frustration. Amy stood back avoiding being hit by foreign objects. She did all she could to try to calm him. "Sonic, stop! Calm down!" she shouted.

"We're dead to them! Don't you understand that?" he shouted back.

She came closer to him. "There's still hope!"

"Even you don't believe that," he sneered. "It's over, Amy! They're gonna die up there, and we're all alone down here!"

"We're not alone! She shouted back. She held his face and looked into his green eyes. "You're not alone…"

Sonic looked into her eyes before looking down at her lips. He leaned in and crashed his lips against her, bringing her into a kiss. She kissed him back as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He took his jacket off and threw it on the floor, while Amy did the same as they continued to kiss. Sonic helped pull her shirt off leaving her only in her bra.

Amy helped him take off his shirt leaving him topless. The two were both in the heat of the moment as he guided her towards the bunk bed. Amy moaned as he kissed down her neck and fell on top of her on the bed. Sonic's hands caressed down her bare sides as the two passionately made out. "Sonic," she moaned. This would be the first time she'd make love.

•~•

**Author's Note: **Decided to keep this rated T. So I'm sure you can all fill in the blanks with what happened in the end. ;) Hope you all are enjoying this. Please leave a review! I'd appreciate it. 3


	7. New Arrival

Amy and Sonic lay in bed together after having a heated hook up. Sonic lay on his back while Amy slept with her head on his chest. She began to stir and she opened her eyes. Sonic looked down at her and smiled. "Hey."

She smiled back at him. "Hi." She reached up and stroked his quills, before looking at her watch. "It's almost dawn. We should probably get going. We can't just lie around in bed all day."

"Or we could just lie around in bed all day," he smirked.

"Sonic, you know that last night wasn't just about needing someone," she said quietly. "I needed you. I wanted it to be you," she smiled.

"I understand." He reached out and stroked her cheek. "And I should probably tell you that last night, for me, wasn't really about you." Her smile slowly faded. "I just wanted to have sex on Mobius for the first time," he cracked with a grin. Amy saw he was joking and snorted a laugh while hiding her face in his shoulder. "You were around, passably cute," he listed jokingly.

Amy straddled on top of him. "You're a jackass," she laughed. She leaned down and kissed him and he kissed her back. His hands traced down her back slowly as they smacked lips together.

•~•

Back on the ark, Abby was locked away in the cell that Amy once resided. She coughed into her arm as she sat on the bed. The door to her cell opened and a guard walked in. "Prisoner. Step to the rear of the cell." Chancellor Jaha stepped in besides the two guards as he stared at Abby.

Abby did as ordered and weakly got out of bed. She placed her hand against the pillar of the cell. "Have we heard from Sally?" she asked to Jaha.

Jaha turned to his two guards. "You can leave us alone, sergeant."

They nodded. "Sir." The two guards closed the door leaving them in privacy.

"Has Sally started her descent?" Abby asked again. Jaha handed her a tablet. Abby took it and looked at the screen. "Environmental numbers?" she said confused.

"As of this morning oxygen is down 16%. CO2 and methane are heading to red levels," he explained.

"Our projections said that we wouldn't be critical for another three months," she replied looking up from the tablet.

"Your husband's projections were wrong. The council has granted you work release pending review," he told her. "Medical is overwhelmed with dizziness, fatigue, and vision problems."

"It's pulmonary toxicity." She put the tablet down on the bed. "I know how they feel," she responded rubbing her temples.

"The prison section has been on half-air since midnight." He walked over to the small table in the cell and opened a briefcase. He handed her an oxygen mask.

"No." She shook her head. "I'm not going to take more than my share. We start choosing who gets extra 02, and we're one step closer to choosing who lives and dies."

"Abby…the council approved Kane's population reduction plan three hours ago."

Her eyes widened. "You voted without me?"

"We followed the rules of order. It wouldn't have mattered. Their approval was unanimous." He crossed his arms. "We start in twelve hours."

She sat down on the bed. "How many?"

"320 people will be excised from the grid."

"-No, murdered, Jaha. 320 people will be murdered," she corrected. "We need to wait for Sally to report back."

He walked over with the oxygen mask in hand, and leaned over grabbing the tablet. "Look at those numbers," he pointed. "Every hour that passes, we put more people in danger!"

"She risked her life for those people," she spoke.

"-No, you risked_ her_ life," he corrected. "When you let her believe that loving a boy somehow meant trusting her life in a hundred year old metal coffin. That trust is going to kill her!" Abby looked away. "Another child dead, just like all the others, just like our own." He lifted the oxygen mask for her to take. "Take this. People are suffering. You can help."

Abby took the mask reluctantly. "Sally will make it to Mobius. I know she will."

"Chaos speed to her," Jaja mumbled. Abby put the mask over her face and took in some deep breaths of oxygen.

•~•

The escape pod with Sally was now orbiting around the planet. "Okay. RCS valve…open," she said while pushing some buttons. "RCS thrust pressure good," she smiled. "Heat shield…good." She pushed down on a lever. "Okay." Her hand reached for a pull down lever that had the words "Retro Fire" written on the handle. She closed her eyes. "Please don't blow up…" she prayed.

She pulled down on it and the escape pod's jet launched her into the atmosphere. Inside, the pod was shaking, vibrating and alarms were going off. Through the windshield she could see the heat shield doing its job as the entered the atmosphere. She was nervous to see if this piece of junk would get her down safely.

Amy and Sonic sat outside and looked up at the sky. She sat in his lap as he held her. "It's so quiet," Amy noted.

"Yeah, but I like it," he muttered. He nuzzled the side of her neck and looked down. "Hey, where'd you get that shirt?" he asked looking down at it.

She looked down at her shirt herself. She was wearing a long sleeved grey shirt. "Oh. Well there were more than just art supplies in the bunker." She smiled at him. "We should share."

"If we brought the stuff back, then they'd know that we found someplace, and where would we go next time someone pulls a Scourge and goes crazy?" he cracked.

"Yeah, I guess..."

He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I wanted it to be you, too," he whispered. She smiled at him lovingly and leaned in and they kissed passionately. Sonic kissed down her neck and Amy tilted her head to the side, as he sensually kissed her. As she moved her neck she looked up at the sky and noticed something shooting across it.

"Sonic, look!"

He stopped kissing her and looked up at the sky where she was looking. "A shooting star?" Amy smiled and watched it. Sonic smiled at her. "You should make a wish."

She laughed. "Why?"

"It's a thing people used to do a long time ago. Or so I heard," he explained.

"But it's just a rock burning up in the atmosphere. Why would that make your wish come true?"

He chuckled. "All right…romance killer," he muttered playfully under his breath.

She laughed and the two continued to watch the _shooting star_ fly across the sky. Amy furrowed her eyebrows as she watched it more closely. "Sonic, that's not a shooting star…" An escape pod came into flew and flew over the trees out of view.

•~•

Shadow was sleeping in his tent with two girls on either side of him. All three of them were naked. Shadow stirred from his sleep when he heard a loud boom. He got out of bed to investigate it, and he grabbed some clothes as he got out of bed. The two girls sleeping besides him groaned and stayed in bed.

"Shadow, get out here!" someone called from outside the tent.

Shadow walked out of his tent with just a pair of pants on. Rouge was standing outside and she pointed to the sky. "There!" Shadow looked up and saw an escape pod flying across the sky with a parachute.

"They're coming to help us?" Rouge asked. Shadow just stared up at the sky fearing the worst. If they were sending in reinforcements would they kill him once they got to the ground? He was the one that shot the chancellor after all.

•~•

Sonic and Amy made their way back to camp from the hidden bunker. "I'm thinking that thing is a cargo pod," Sonic said as they hurried back.

"No. They wouldn't arm a bunch of juvenile delinquents. It's probably nutrition packs, medical supplies," she theorized. "There could be a radio!"

"We can talk to the ark…" Sonic smiled with hopefulness.

"That is if the radio wasn't fried in the landing," Amy said.

"We're not alone down here anymore," he smiled. "That's a good thing."

•~•

Back at camp, Shadow, Rouge, Sleuth, Drago, and Lightning, stood in a tent as they made a plan to go after the escape pod. "If it cleared the ridge, it's probably near the lake," Shadow said pointing to a map.

"We should get moving," Rouge said.

Shadow stared at her. "No one's going anywhere. Not while it's dark. It isn't safe." Shadow looked to Lightning and Drago. "We'll head out at first light. Now go."

The three other boys nodded and left the tent. Shadow went to exit but Rouge stepped in his path. "Everyone for 100 miles saw this thing come down," she pointed out. "What if the grounders get to it first?" Shadow remained quiet. That's what he was hoping for. "Shad, we should go now!" she urged.

"I said we wait until sunrise," he replied sternly. He bent down and exited through the tent flap.

•~•

Back on the ark, Abby was in the medical ward tending to patients. A little brown badger girl sat on a table as she did an eye test. Her father stood besides her as she did the exam.

The little girl held up a black spoon against one eye. Abby held out her tablet with a chart of different colored shapes. "Blue triangle. Orange Square. Yellow triangle," she said to Abby.

"Okay, Reese. Now the other eye," she instructed.

Reese put the spoon against her other eye, and Abby showed her a different chart of shapes. "Nothing. It's just black."

Abby pulled out a flashlight pen. "Okay. Let me know if you see anything." She pointed the flashlight into her exposed eye and Reese remained still.

"Are you doing it?" she asked.

She clicked it off trying to remain positive. "We're finished," she smiled. "Why don't you wait outside while I talk to your dad?"

Reese slid off the seat. "Wait with Miss Lucy," her father instructed. A green female rabbit stood off to the side and took Reese with her.

"It's not getting any better," her father said looking to Abby.

"The decline has been accelerating for the past few days."

"The air's never has been this bad. They're gonna fix it, right?" he asked optimistically.

"I hope so," she lied as she walked over to another table.

Her father shot a glare her way. "Hey." He walked over to her. "She's a nine year old girl. What's she gonna do with the rest of her life blind in this place?"

"She's strong."

"She shouldn't have to be," he scoffed as he walked out.

"I'm sorry but there's nothing else you or I can do to help her," she said stopping him in his tracks.

"I'll find a way…"

•~•

Out in the woods, a radio murmured inside the escape pod Sally was inside. _"Pod one, pod one, if you are receiving, please respond."_

Inside the pod, Sally was knocked unconscious inside the astronaut suit. She had a bit of blood trickling down her forehead. The radio continued to talk. "_Pod one, pod one, this is ark station medical. If you are receiving, please respond."_

_•~•_

Amy and Sonic finally got back to camp. "Looks like everybody's up," Sonic said noticing the teens standing around.

"Did you guys see that? You know it's from the ark, right?" Mighty asked approaching the two.

"Grab your stuff and lets find out," Amy replied with a smile.

"Shadow said we're going to wait until sunrise."

"Where is he?" she asked.

"In his tent, I think," Mighty said pointing over to it.

Amy went inside his tent and saw all his stuff was gone. Sonic popped in behind her and saw the same. "He told everyone to stay. Whatever's in that thing, he wants it," Sonic deduced.

"We need to get there before he does," Amy said quickly leaving. "I should've known he'd go for that radio," Amy spat in annoyance.

•~•

Shadow ran through he forest alone trying to track down the pod. "Shadow!" he heard someone call out. He turned around and saw it was Rouge. "What are you doing?" she asked catching up to him.

"Go back to camp. It isn't safe," he told her.

"You lied to everyone. You lied to me," she said slightly angered with him.

"Just go home!" he shouted pushing her back.

Rouge glared at him. "You always want to play the big brother, huh? Well, guess what?" she said getting in his face. "You're just a selfish dick!"

"I did this to protect you," he shouted. "If the ark finds out we're alive, they'll come down. And when they do, I'm dead," he spoke.

"What did you do?" she asked now concerned.

"I shot Jaha," he answered.

"What?" she spoke in a surprised whisper.

"I found out they were sending you here and I couldn't let you go alone," he explained. "Someone came to me with a deal—do this. Kill him, and they'd get me on the drop ship."

"…You killed the chancellor?" she said in disgust.

"He floated our mother," he argued. "He locked you up. He deserved it!"

She backed up. "I didn't ask you to do that."

"You're right." He looked away. "I made the choice. This is on me." He looked back over his shoulder at the path he was taking. "Whatever they sent down, I'll take care of it."

Rouge walked away. She was disappointed with Shadow's actions even if they were for a good reason. "I didn't ask for any of this."

•~•

"All air hatches and vents leading to section 17 will be sealed," Kane explained to the chancellor in his quarters. "It'll appear to be a 'malfunction' of the fire containment system."

Jaha rubbed his temples. "So, it'll look like an accident?"

"It's essential to maintain public order after the culling takes place," Kane argued.

Jaha still didn't like this plan that was taking place, but he had no choice. He had to do something. "Kane, you'll be giving the authority to cut off the oxygen."

Kane looked at him bewildered. "But I don't have the authority, sir."

"In your capacity as chancellor you will. Tonight, I will be in section 17 inspecting repairs to the hull, and when those doors are closed, their fate with be my fate."

"Don't do this," he begged shaking his head in disapproval.

"My mind is made up. I'm leaving you in terrible times, Marcus. But you have a strength that is not weakened by sentiment."

•~•

Inside the escape pod, Sally was still unconscious. The door to the pod opened and Shadow appeared as he looked around inside. The radio was still going off trying to get Sally to signal back. Shadow looked at Sally in the space suit and thought she was already dead. He took his knife out and cut out the radio, ripping it from its circuits. He shut the door and ran over to the river nearby, and chucked it into the river before running off.

Meanwhile close by, Amy and Sonic split up in search for the escape pod. Amy ran down a small slope to a clearing near a river. She saw the escape pod and ran over excitedly. She opened the door and saw Sally in her space suit starting to stir. "Oh my god."

Sally looked at Amy in surprise. "Uh, hi…" She was still in a slight daze. "I made it?" she said taking off her helmet.

Amy smiled and nodded. She helped Sally out of the pod and got her out of her suit. Sally walked around with her arms out taking in the beauty of the planet and taking a fresh breath of air. Amy stood off to the side and watched. "I dreamed it would smell like this!"

"Welcome home," Amy giggled.

Suddenly Sonic appeared over a hill and saw two people at the bottom where the escape pod was. His eyes widened when he recognized the girl standing beside Amy. He rushed down to greet them. "Sal?"

Sally turned when she heard the familiar voice. Her face beamed. "Sonic!" She rushed over and jumped into his arms.

Amy was smiling at first but then realized Sally's relationship with Sonic was more than just friends. Sally brought Sonic into a passionate kiss. Sonic didn't kiss back at first. He was in shock seeing his girlfriend, but he hesitantly kissed back. Amy's smile faded as she watched the two reunite.

She broke away from the kiss. "I knew you couldn't be dead," she said looking him over.

Sonic looked over to Amy before looking back at her face. "Y-you're bleeding, Sal."

"I don't care." She brought him into another kiss.

Sonic broke away from her kiss. "H-how did you get here?"

"You know that big scrap hold, the one on K deck?

Sonic looked over to the pod. "You built that from scrap?" he asked in astonishment.

She shrugged. "I kind of rebuilt it," she laughed. Sonic forced a smile. "Please. Like that's hard," she cracked.

"You're insane, Sal," he grinned sheepishly.

She smirked. "I'd do more for you and worse. Just like you would for me," she said smiling up at him. Suddenly she felt light headed and started to feel her knees weaken, but Sonic held her steady.

"Whoa, whoa. Let's sit you down," he said as he guided her over to a bolder to sit on. She sat down and he took his jacket off and placed it over her. "Let me get you something."

Sonic jogged over to Amy standing awkwardly by the escape pod. She went through her backpack and handed him a water bottle. He could see Amy looked upset. Sonic took the bottle and shot her an apologetic stare. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Let's not talk about this," she said looking away.

"I've known her my whole life," he said backing up while still talking quietly.

"We don't need to talk about it," she repeated. They walked back over to Sally and he handed her the water and acted normal.

"Thanks," she said before taking a sip. Sonic kneeled down by her side. "This is Amy. She was on the drop ship, too."

"…Amy?" Sally stood up slowly as she realized whom it was. "This was all because of your mom."

"My mom?" Amy asked confused.

"This was all her plan. We were trying to come down together, but if we waited…" her voice trailed off. "Oh my god…we couldn't wait because the council was voting whether to kill 300 people to save air."

"When?"

"Today." Sally rushed over to the escape pod. "We have to tell them, you're alive!" She bent inside to get the radio but saw it was missing. "The radio's gone…" She backed out of it. "It must've gotten lose during reentry."

"No. Someone got here first." Amy began to lead them back. "We have to find him."

•~•

Abby entered Jaha's quarters slamming the door behind her. "Tell me it's not true!"

Jaha looked down at Silver's chessboard sadly. "It is." He put down the board. "How can I ask anyone to make a sacrifice that I'm not willing to make myself?"

"So, you're going to die peacefully and leave humanity in the hands of Kane?"

"Yes. He won't hesitate to do what needs to be done."

"This is happening too fast. There are things we can do to buy us time!" she begged.

"We've gone through all the possibilities," he replied calmly. "This is the only solution."

"No, it can't be!"

He closed his eyes. "I'm doing what's right."

"You're running away. You're a coward." She walked out of the room and left. She went into her cabin and opened a safe in the wall. Inside it was a USB drive. She picked it up and left the room. She needed to do something to save the lives of the ark.

•~•

Back on Mobius, Rouge was still making her way back to camp. She walked through the woods alone but stopped, when she heard rustling in the bushes behind her. Was someone following her? She quickly ran faster through the woods to get back to camp, and climbed up a hill but stumbled on a rock. She started rolling down the hill while hitting gravel and other debris along the way. She grunted every time her body scraped over the rocks, twigs and dirt.

Her body finally stopped rolling when her body slammed into a group of large rocks. Her head hit the side of one of them and she was knocked unconscious, as blood trickled down her face.

•~•

Meanwhile, Amy and the other caught up with Shadow making his way back to camp. "Hey!" Amy shouted. Shadow casually glanced over his shoulder innocently. "Where is it?" she demanded.

"Hey, princess. You taking a walk through the woods, too?" he said trying to act innocent.

"They're about to kill 300 people up there to save oxygen," she shouted.

Sonic came up and shoved Shadow back. "Where's the radio, man?"

Shadow shoved Sonic back forcefully. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he lied.

Sally came from around some trees. "Shadow?" she inquired. "They're looking everywhere for you."

He glared at her. "Shut up!"

"Why?" Amy asked Sally.

"He shot the chancellor," she said crossing her arms and giving him a look.

"That's why you took the wristbands off…" Amy realized.

"All that, whatever the hell we want, was to save your ass," Sonic said pointing a finger.

Shadow started to walk away but Sally got in his way. "Hey, shooter, where's my radio?"

"Get out of my way, girl," he growled.

"Where is it!" she asked again.

"I should've killed you when I had the chance," he said getting in her face.

She wasn't scared of him. "Really? Well, I'm here now."

Shadow grabbed her and threw her against a tree. Amy and Sonic quickly intervened and held up knives to Shadow. Sally also had a knife and held it up in his face. "Where's my radio…"

Shadow let her go and walked off. "Jaha deserved to die. You all know that."

"He's not my favorite person, either. But he's not dead," Sally explained.

Shadow turned around in surprise. "What?"

"You're a lousy shot," she said while putting a hand on her hip.

Amy came up to Shadow. "Don't you see what this means? You're not a murderer." She put a hand on his shoulder. "Please, where's the radio?"

He closed his eyes. "It's too late…"

•~•

Back on the ark through the communication mainframe, Jake Rose's prerecorded message began to play all throughout the ark. Everyone stopped what they were doing and listened. They were confused to see the deceased hedgehog appear on the screen. "People of the ark, today I need to talk to you about our future. The things I need to tell you are serious."

Antoine rushed to Kane in his cabin with a tablet in hand. "Sir, have you been on the network?"

"No?" he said confused.

Antoine tapped his tablet screen and brought up Jake Rose's message. The message played on his tablet. _"The Ark is dying. This city in space that has been our sanctuary,"_ the message said.

"It's playing everywhere," the coyote explained. "Tech's trying to shut it down."

Kane got up and growled. "We should never have let her out of her cell," he said as he rushed for the exit.

"Time is running out," Jake's message continued. "This is an undeniable reality, but we have pledged our lives to make sure that humanity does not share that fate. Now, while there is still time, we must come together and face this crisis head on. I think it'll bring out the best in us."

A herd of guards charged down the corridor to the communication lab. They were trying to get there before the message finished.

Suddenly Jake's message faded out and Abby appeared on the screen. "My husband was killed for trying to warn us. In twelve hours, 320 people will be sacrificed to extend our oxygen supply unless we take action," she explained. She heard pounding on the locked door of the room she was in. The guards had caught up with her. She knew she had no time to waste. "The future doesn't belong to the chancellor or the council. It belongs to all of us." She ended the recording just in the knick of time, as the guards swarmed the room she was in.

•~•

Back on Mobius, a group of teens waded in the ankle deep river to search for the missing radio. Amy was looking for it when Sonic came up besides her. "I should've told you about her," he whispered. "But, I didn't think I'd see her again," he admitted.

"Yet you wouldn't take off your wristband." He stayed quiet and she gave him a small smile. "You had hope, I get it." She continued to walk around and look through the water. "I was around, passably cute, and now it's over between us."

Jet, a green hawk lifted up something from the water. "Hey, I found it!'

Sally ran over and retrieved it from him. She looked at the wiring and shook out some of the excess water. Amy joined her side. "Can you fix it?"

"Maybe. But it'll take a day and a half just to dry out the components to see what's broken.

"Like I said, too late," Shadow said from behind them.

Amy stormed up to him. "Do you have any idea what you did? 300 people are going to die because of you!"

"Hold on," Sally interrupted. "We don't have to talk to the ark. We just have to let them know we're down here, right?"

"How do we do that with no radio?" Sonic asked.

Sally smiled. "I have an idea."

•~•

On the ark, the council met in a meeting room. Jaha stood in front of Abby and scolded her. "You've taken an impossible situation and made it worse… This will cause a riot!"

"Good. Maybe we need one," she replied.

Kane approached the two. "There's a crowd of 400 strong right outside," he informed.

Jackson came up to the three. "They sent an emissary to speak with Abby."

Jaha nodded. "All right."

A brown male badger walked in. Abby recognized him. "His daughter is a patient of mine." She approached him.

"Hey, doc. I saw your video thing," he said.

"I'm sorry you had to hear it like that," she spoke apologetically.

"No good way to hear it, right?" he laughed uncomfortably. "Anyway…I'm here to volunteer, I guess." He took off his I.D necklace and tossed it onto the table.

Jaha looked at him puzzled. "Volunteer?"

"Section 17, sir," he clarified.

"You'd leave Reese without a father?" Abby asked in shock.

"This morning you told me my daughter was going blind, and there was nothing I could do to help her. Turns out there is." He walked out of the room and the rest of the people standing outside came in one by one and offered their I.D's up.

Jaha, Abby, and Kane watched in astonishment. "Jake was right, it would bring out the best in us," Jaha whispered.

•~•

Back on Mobius, Sonic and Jet carried a container of flares while Sally instructed others on what to do. "If we have any hope of saving those people, everyone needs to listen to me." She looked at her boyfriend. "Sonic, get those moved over there!" she pointed.

A yellow lemur was busy working on the escape pod. "You, pull out those firing circuits in one piece or they won't work." Amy was next to him helping. Sally looked at her. "Amy, can I have a hand?"

Amy got out from underneath the escape pod door and approached Sally. Sally handed her a wrench. "Work these bolts here gently," she instructed. "Rocket fuel likes to go boom." Amy began to use the wrench to untwist the bolts. Sally watched her carefully. "We're going to need power to fire."

"They're tying in the batteries on the drop ship," Amy replied. "Should be ready when we get there."

Sally noticed Amy seemed a bit off. "Great. So, what's the problem?"

"Nothing," she lied. "I just uh - well, if we get the rockets to launch, will they see it from the ark?"

"Like the good book says, it's all about burn time and cloud coverage." She looked down at some circuits under a panel. "I know your mom will be watching," she smiled. "I've never seen anyone love someone the way she loves you," she admitted. "You know that, right?"

"I did," Amy said continuing to work at the bolts. Sally gave her a puzzled look. "It's complicated."

•~•

Back on the ark, Kane entered Jaha's chambers with a file in hand. "Here's the list of volunteers. They'll report to B deck in less than an hour."

Jaha took the file and flipped through it. "This is more than enough."

"We rejected almost 100." Jaha turned around and looked at Kane. "Essential personnel and minors." He cleared his throat. "Abby's announcement proved to be very convincing."

"Yes, it did…" he concurred.

•~•

Reese stood besides her nanny as her father knelt down in front of her. "Why do you have to work the double shift? It's not fair," she whined.

"Sorry. Things need to get done," he told her. "You be good for Miss Lucy, okay."

"Thanks because I was totally gonna be terrible," she cracked.

He smiled at her. "Give me a kiss."

She leaned in and kissed her dad on the cheek. He hugged her and held her for a moment. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Miss Lucy walked over and took her by the hand leading her out. His daughter

was completely oblivious to the fact that he was about to die for the greater good.

•~•

Abby, Kane, and Jaha stood in the tech room as they watched the monitor for section 17. The room filled with the ark residents willing to sacrifice themselves. "Have we heard from Sally?" Abby asked to Kane.

"No, not yet."

•~•

On Mobius, it was dark now and the hundred had used logs as props for the flares they were going to send off into the sky. Everyone was running around last minute trying to get everything set up. This was a matter of minutes to get the signals out.

On the ark in section 17, the residents sat on the floor of the room as they waited to be executed. There were couples, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, brothers, and elderly people, who were willing to sacrifice themselves in order for their loved ones to live longer.

Some people cried silently, while others held hands as they waited. An alarm blared letting them know it was time.

"Sir, the order?" Jackson asked to the chancellor.

Jaha walked over and pushed a button on a monitor that shut off the oxygen in section 17. A sleeping gas was admitted into the air to help the death be less painful.

•~•

On Mobius, they successfully launched the rockets with flares into the sky. The rockets raced into the sky and left a pink haze as they traveled further up. The hundred watched in hope that the ark would see the signal.

Amy stood by Shadow as she watched the rockets fly through the air. She glanced over to her right and saw Sonic and Sally watching the rockets as well. Sonic had his arm draped over Sally's shoulder as she snuggled with him.

"You think they can see it from up there?" Shadow asked Amy taking her attention away from the couple.

"I don't know. I hope so," she replied.

Amy took another glimpse over to Sally and Sonic again. Sally looked away and caught Amy staring. She shot her a smile and Amy forced on a smile back before looking back to the sky.

•~•

Back on the ark, it was too late. No one had seen the signals the teens had sent from the ground. Everyone in section 17 was dead.

In the forest outside of camp, Rouge began to stir. Her brother apparently hadn't noticed she had gone missing. Rouge groggily tried to lift her head, but her head was killing her. She was dirty, bloody and sweaty as she lay in the dirt. As she pushed herself up, she looked to her left and saw a male red echidna crouched down besides her. He wore a scarf that covered his muzzle and armor made of bones.

He stared at her with interest. He had some black war paint under and around his eyes. He slowly stood in front of her standing to his full height. At that moment Rouge was too exhausted to scream out and instead fainted.

•~•

Back on the ark, Abby was back in her cell. She sat on the floor and sat in silence. The door to her cell opened and Jaha walked in. He sat on the floor besides her. "We made the best choice that we could," he said while taking a swig of alcohol from a flask.

Abby didn't respond but instead looked to the ceiling above her at the port window on the ceiling. Outside you could see into space and see Mobius from the position. Three streaks of purple flew across the view of Mobius.

"Did you see that?" she asked in a whisper.

Jaha looked up and saw the three purple steaks. "They're alive…"

•~•

**Author's note:** So, what do you guys think? Please leave a review for me so I can know. :)


	8. My Sister's Keeper

**Author's Note:** First of all, I want to clear up some confusion. I've been getting some PM's concerning questions for the story.  
>• <em>"Who runs the ark?"<em>: Jaha. He's the Chancellor. (Silver's father) I thought I made this very clear. *sigh*

• _"Will we know why everyone was locked up?"_: Yes and no.

• _"Are Amy & Sonic together?"_: They hooked up but they were never officially together. There were feelings there but now it's complicated with Sally thrown into the mix. This is suppose to be a SonAmy story, but it may change overtime. ;)

• _"Are you going to write Sally as a bitch?"_: FFS, no, although I don't mind when authors alter a character for the purpose of the story. No, you won't see Sally as a bitchy character in this story, so chill the eff out. lol.

* * *

><p>•~•<p>

**Flashback: 17 Years Ago**

A six-year-old Shadow sat alone in his cabin. The door opened and his mother came in carrying a bundle in her arms. She quickly closed the door behind her.

"Mom, where were you?" Shadow asked.

She sat besides him. "You have a sister," his mother said handing over a baby to Shadow. She was a white bat with emerald eyes.

"I thought you weren't allowed to have two children?" he asked curiously while looking down at her.

"We're not supposed to but I made a few deals with some people to help me get away with it. You can't let anyone know about her, understand?" his mother asked.

He nodded. "What's her name?"

"You should name her," she smiled.

"Can I name her Rouge?"

"That's a beautiful name."

Shadow looked down at his sister in his arms. "I won't let anything bad happen to you, Rouge. I promise," he smiled.

**End Flashback: Present Day**

Walking through the campsite with a lit torch, Shadow looked high and low for his sister. "Rouge?" he called. He bent down looking inside tents and behind them. Shadow looked behind a tent flap and saw Amy sitting inside awake. "You're up."

She crawled out. "Yeah, knowing hundreds of people might be dying on the ark doesn't help ease the mind."

"Sally's flares will work," he said.

She crossed her arms. "Her radio would've worked better..."

He ignored her comment. "Have you seen Rouge?" he asked with seriousness.

She raised a brow. "No, why?"

"I've checked camp. She's not here," he said with concern.

Amy could see he was desperate to locate her. "Okay, I'll help you find her." The two started to walk off. "You go to the drop ship. I'll check the rest of the tents."

"Thank you," he replied as they walked together.

"Don't thank me. I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for Rouge," she corrected.

•~•

Rouge woke up in a dark damp cave. She groaned as she came to. Grunting, she wondered how she had gotten to this place. She looked down at her knee and saw a tear in her pants. She had a large cut in her leg. "Aaah," she hissed touching it, it was still bleeding and stung.

Suddenly she heard someone coming from the entrance of the cave. She started to back up in fear but let out a cry of pain from trying to move her hurt leg. The red echidna came in with a knife with a glowing orange tip. Rouge was terrified. "Please don't hurt me," she begged.

The echidna didn't respond and grabbed her good leg dragging her towards him. Rouge cried out as she was pulled towards him. "No!" she cried out as she tried to get away from him. The echidna held her down with one hand and used the other with the lit knife to come down on her hurt leg. "Nooo!"

•~•

Back at camp, Shadow had rounded up some volunteers to go search for Rouge. He dropped a bag of assorted knives, axes, and other handheld weapons. "My sister's been out there alone for 12 hours. Arm up, we're not coming back without her."

Mighty came out and grabbed a knife. "You don't have to do this," Amy said to him.

"I want to," he replied.

"We need all the people we can get," Shadow said from behind the two. "We need a tracker." He looked around and spotted Sonic. "Faker, get over here."

"All right." Sonic jogged over when he spotted Amy in the back of the group. "Hey, wait up," he called to her. Amy looked over at him. "We should talk about," he paused. "You know," he whispered.

Sally came out of one of the tents and spotted Amy and Sonic talking together. She couldn't hear them but by the looks on their faces, whatever they were discussing looked a bit heated. She snuck closer and hid behind some tents to overhear their conversation.

"You have a girlfriend, Sonic. There's really nothing left to say," Amy said as they walked towards the entrance of camp. Sally's eyes widened as she overheard Amy. Did something happen between the two during her absence. She felt her heart drop thinking of the possibility.

"Hey, hold on. It's true. I care about Sally, but you and me, we started something."

"It's nothing we can't stop," she replied.

"Are you sure?" He paused. "Because I'm not." Sally grimaced hearing Sonic's statement. She needed to intervene in this conversation immediately.

"Hey, Amy!" Sally called as she walked around one of the tents. She put on a fake smile as she hurried over.

Sonic and Amy turned and saw Sally approach. "Mind if you stick back with me and help me with the radio?"

She nodded. "Uh, sure."

Sally smiled. "Great." She grabbed Amy's hand and dragged her off. "Hope you don't mind, Sonic."

Sonic watched as his girlfriend dragged her off. "Uh, yeah, no problem…"

•~•

Rouge woke up again after passing out. She gasped as she sat up and looked around. The echidna was gone again. "Hello?" She panted. "Is anybody here?" She looked down at the tear in her pants. Where her cut once was. It was now cauterized. "…He fixed it?" she asked a loud. Rouge got up to her feet and looked around the cave she was inside. There were animal antlers, cave paintings, knick-knacks and all sorts. The grounder who lived here apparently liked to collect stuff.

Rouge walked around the cave trying to find a way out. She saw a small gap that led to the outside but couldn't squeeze through it. "Damn it…"

•~•

Jet held a lit torch and spotted something near a ravine. He moved the torch to get a better look, and saw a belt lying on the ground by some rocks. "Shadow, I found something." Everyone joined his side and looked. Shadow slid down the side of the ravine and bent over picking the belt up. "This is hers."

Everyone at the top of the hill made their way down to join him. Shadow knelt down and touched a rock with some blood. It was still fairly fresh. "Someone else is here," he said looking at large footprints.

Sonic joined Shadows side and looked at the prints. "Whoever it was carried her away from here."

•~•

Back in the cave, Rouge saw some another hole in the wall. She started digging away at some of the rocks in the way, and made the hole bigger for her to crawl through. It was still fairly narrow, and there were some bugs inside but this was her only way to escape. She climbed inside and started making her way out.

•~•

Meanwhile, Shadow and his search group stumbled into a wooded area where skeleton remains were tied up against trees. Sonic looked to Shadow. "I don't speak grounder, but I'm pretty sure this means keep out."

Shadow noticed some of the volunteers became spooked, and started heading back to camp. "Go back if you want. My sister is my responsibility." Shadow walked around the human remains not fazed by its dark message.

Mighty looked over to Sonic. "I'd walk into hell to find her," he said following after the ebony hedgehog.

"Guess I have no choice but to do the same," he sighed while following.

**Flashback: 10 Years Ago**

A 13 - year - old, Shadow carried an eight – year - old Rouge on his back, as he ran around the inside of their cabin. His mother sat at a table, and sewed as she watched her children play.

Rouge giggled as she pretended Shadow was her horse. "Faster, Shadow!"

He plopped her down on his bed. "That's enough for today," he said through a pant.

Rouge got off the bed and tugged on his arm. "I want another pony ride."

"You want another one?" he laughed. He bent down trying to catch his breath. "Okay, you want to go through the jungle or forest?"

"I want to see the ark, Shad," she smiled. "Take me out there," she begged.

"That's enough, both of you," their mother said from her sewing. A clock alarm went off in their room and their mother looked. "It's time."

"B-but, no…" Rouge whimpered. "I don't want to. How do you even know?" Rouge said looking at her mother.

Shadow was also curious. "Yeah, mom, tell us how you always know about the surprise inspections?" Shadow went over to the table and moved it out of the way.

His mother ignored the disappointment in his tone. "Mind yourself, Shadow." His mother bent down and held Rouge's hands. "Tell your sister what happens if they find her."

"She knows what happens. I've told her a thousand times." He bent down and opened a metal panel from the floor. "You know the drill," he said while looking at his sister. Inside the hidden compartment was enough room for Rouge to lie down in hiding.

"I hate the drill! Sometimes I wish I was never born," she whined.

Her mother grabbed her wrist. "Stop it, Rouge. I know you're afraid but fear is a demon. Close your eyes and tell yourself you are not afraid," she instructed. Rouge took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. "That is how you slay the demon."

Two knocks pounded on their door. "Inspection!"

"I'm not afraid," Rouge whispered. Her mother kissed her on the cheek. "Good, now hurry and hide." Rouge quickly hid in the floorboards and closed it. Shadow moved the desk over the hiding spot.

Shadow's mother walked over and opened the door when it was clear. A grey bat walked in along with another guard. "Miss Aurora, by authority of the council, we're here to preform a random inspection."

"Inspector Grus, it's good to see you," she smiled. She turned around and grabbed a uniform off a shelf. "You're uniform is ready." She handed it over to him. "There you go, just like new," she smiled. The inspector took the uniform from her and smirked. She leaned in. "Do you have something for me?" she whispered while the other guard did the inspection.

Shadow sat down at the table as he watched his mother. The inspector reached over and took a squeeze of her ass. Shadow rolled his eyes in disgust and looked away at his mother's flirtation. "And what would that be?" Grus asked.

"Shadow's letter of recommendation?" she whispered.

The bat looked over to Shadow. "You think you're guard material, kid?"

"Yeah?" he responded.

"The guard will make a man out of him," he said looking him over. The inspection finished and the other guard left. Grus turned on his way out the door. "Come to my quarters later. He'll get that recommendation," he whispered.

**End Flashback: Present Day**

"I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid," Rouge repeated as she crawled through the opening in the cave. She finally made it out of the cave, and dropped down onto the soft mossy dirty on the outside. She panted as she finally made her escape. She stumbled to her feet and started making her way back to camp.

•~•

Shadow, Sonic, Mighty, Lightning, and Fiona walked through the woods together. They were the only people left to help search for Rouge.

Lightning was a bit behind the rest of the group when a blue echidna wearing bone armor and a leather mask, dropped down behind him and covered his mouth. The grounder leapt back into the trees quietly with him, and didn't allow the rest of the group to know he was missing.

"Wandering around aimlessly isn't going to help find Rouge. We should backtrack," Sonic recommended.

"Look, faker. I'm not going back," he said shooting him a glare.

Fiona looked behind her when she noticed Lightning was missing. "Hey, where's Light?"

Everyone stayed quiet and looked around. The lynx was gone. "I just saw him a second ago," Mighty said.

"Spread out. He couldn't have gotten that far," Shadow said while looking around carefully. Just then Lightning's body fell from the trees falling in front of the group. His neck was snapped.

Fiona stared at her fallen friend. "Oh my god…oh my god!"

Sonic looked up. "They use the trees…"

"We shouldn't have crossed the boundary," Fiona said while backing up.

Mighty looked to his right and through some trees he spotted a grounder standing besides it. He was also an echidna but he was purple. "There," he pointed.

Shadow looked to his left and saw another grounder standing his ground in the distant. "Another one."

Fiona looked behind them and in the distance was another grounder staring them down. "Over there!"

The group backed their backs up together as they stared at the grounders. They had surrounded them from every direction. Sonic looked to Shadow briefly. "We should run."

"For once you have a good idea," he muttered. "Go!" he screamed before everyone went running straight ahead. The grounders saw them take off and started chasing after them.

"What are we gonna do, they keep heading us off?" Sonic shouted as the four ran.

"Just keep running!" Shadow shouted back.

•~•

Back at camp, Sally was working on fixing the radio while Amy assisted in the drop ship. Sally finished rewiring some of the radio and swiped her brow. "Phew, wanna go and take a break?"

"This really needs to be finished now," Amy said while laying out more tools.

Sally chuckled. "Out to save the world- you're just like your mom."

Her eyes narrowed. "I am nothing like my mom…"

"Chill, that's a compliment. Abby's a badass." She reached for a screwdriver. "The pod was her idea. She was heartbroken when she realized she couldn't come down here."

Amy fiddled with a button on her shirt. "Pff, yeah, mother of the year…" she said facetiously.

Sally noticed the tone in her voice. She switched topics. "My mom was AWOL most of my life," she said while unscrewing a bolt. "I wish I could've had a mom like yours."

"How'd you survive?" Amy asked curiously.

"Boy next door. Sonic," she smiled. "He shared his rations, remembered my birthday, and saved my life. He's my only family," she explained.

It hit Amy hard on how much Sonic meant to Sally. It crushed her that she had slept with him when she knew she couldn't compete with someone like Sally, who needed Sonic. It was her only family after all. "Uh, I'll be right back," she lied. Sally watched as Amy left the tent quickly.

•~•

"Guys, I don't know how much longer I can run!" Mighty shouted from behind.

Shadow skidded to a stop and Sonic replicated his action. "I'm sick of running anyway," he spat.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Sonic asked.

"They know where she is!"

Fiona spotted a freakish grounder approaching from their behind and ran off into the open leaving the three boys on their own. "Aaaah!"

The other boys chased after her. "Fiona, wait!" Sonic shouted. The boys had lost sight of her.

"Wait, where'd they go?" Mighty asked noticing the grounders weren't behind them anymore.

"After Fiona," Shadow said before taking off after her.

•~•

Meanwhile close by, Rouge had managed to get fairly far away. She was around the same area Shadow and the rest were at. She limped through the woods but stopped when she heard a girl scream. Rouge looked in the direction of the scream wondering who it was. She stood besides a tree and looked around until someone came up from behind her. They grabbed her and put a hand over her mouth to silence her.

Rouge held onto the hand concealing her muffled screams. It was the red echidna again; he carried her behind the tree and knelt down to hide their position. From their hiding spot, Rouge could see Fiona running in the distance. Then out of nowhere a spear was hurdled towards her and impaled her into a tree, killing her.

Rouge's eyes widened as she watched a girl from her camp get taken down. The red echidna removed his hand from her mouth then picked up and carried her away.

**Flashback: 6 Years Ago**

Rouge sat in her room while she sewed clothes. She was now fifteen years old. The door opened and Shadow walked in wearing a guard's uniform. "You'll never guess what's about to happen," he said smiling as he entered.

"Inspection?" she guessed. "I'll get in the hole." She started to get up but Shadow stopped her.

"No, sit." He sat down at the table next to her. "This is great."

Rouge put her hands to her face. "Please, Shad, I don't want to hear about another amazing moonrise when I'm never going to see one."

He shook his head. "No, you're going to see one right now," he said. "The unity day masquerade dance starts in ten minutes." He pulled out a mask behind his back and handed it over to her. "I'm going to be there, watching you the entire time," he smiled.

"Is this for real?" she asked in disbelief. He nodded with a smile. She put the mask over her eyes. "How do I look?"

"Mysterious," he chuckled.

"What about Mom?"

"Will you quit worrying, we'll be back before she even knows," he said as he got up.

Shadow opened the door and made sure the cost was clear. "Want to go for a walk?" Rouge stepped outside their room for the first time with her brother. She looked around hesitantly. "It's okay," he said.

Rouge walked through the empty halls and looked around. She couldn't believe she was actually doing this. Her brother walked in front of her with his hands behind his back and glanced over his shoulder at her and smiled. They came to a large window that looked out into space. From there Rouge could see the Moon and Mobius.

It was a breathtaking view she had always dreamed of seeing. Suddenly teens her age started flooding the halls to attend the dance. Nobody took a second glance at Rouge being out of place. Everyone was wearing masks anyway so she fit right in. Rouge walked into a room where there were a bunch of teens talking and dancing. Mighty lifted up his mask when he spotted Rouge enter the room. "Whoa… who's that?" he gawked.

"Another girl who won't notice us," Tails piped in.

Shadow stood against the wall and watched his sister carefully, as she approached Mighty and began to dance with him.

**End Flashback: Present Day**

The grounder that helped Rouge led her through the woods. Rouge walked slowly behind him, swatting away bugs, as she grew tired. She stopped and leaned her arm against a tree. The red echidna looked back at her irked that she had stopped.

She could sense that he was growing impatient with her sluggish pace. She shot him an annoyed look. "My leg," she said pointing to it.

The echidna kept a stoic expression before walking over and scooping her up into his arms. He started to carry her back. "Thank you. You saved my life." He remained silent as he continued to walk. "I knew that girl back there, and if she's here, that means my brother is too. You have to help him or they'll kill him too," she begged.

Rouge crossed her arms over her chest. "You don't understand me, do you?" He came to a part of the woods that looked familiar. He shoved a rock out of the way revealing a hidden door. He carried her down into the cave in the ground she had escape from, and put her down on the floor. "Why are you taking care of me?" she asked. The echidna walked over and grabbed some chains from the wall. "You found me at the bottom of that ravine, and you fixed my knee."

Suddenly he wrapped the chains around her wrists. "What the hell are you doing?" she barked. "Please don't do this!" she begged. He locked the chains to a lock and left the cave. Rouge began to cry as he left. "Noo!"

•~•

Shadow and the group finally found Fiona. They saw her arm sticking out from the side of a tree. "Fiona," Sonic said in a hushed whisper. They got no response from her. Shadow walked around the side of the tree and saw the spear sticking out of her chest. She was dead. Sonic came up and saw it too. "They're playing with us…"

"Look!" Mighty pointed at four grounders charging at them from different directions. The three huddled up together and pulled out their weapons. But before the grounders could even get close, the ominous horn began to echo through the woods. The grounders froze in place and looked around. Then ran away.

"They're leaving?" Shadow said confused.

"That horn. What does it mean? Mighty asked.

"Acid fog…" Sonic said.

**Flashback: 6 Years Ago**

The party was going smoothly and Rouge was dancing on the dance floor. Mighty danced behind her. Rouge did a twirl to face him and gave him a smile.

"Nice eyes. What station are you from?"

Before she could answer, the music suddenly stopped and the lights turned on. Over the P.A a warning was announced. "Solar flare alert. An X-class solar flare has begun on the starboard side of the ark. All citizens must report to the nearest shelter zone immediately." Rouge looked around through the crowd of teens frantically. Where was Shadow?

Shadow came up and grabbed her wrist. He began leading her out, when a group of guards approached. He backtracked and led her into the back of the room. "Shad, I need to get home," she whispered.

"You will."

Antoine walked in casually. "Ladies and gentlemen, you know the drill." He itched his head. "Mask off. I.D. chips out," he instructed.

Rouge looked to Shadow. "What do we do?" she asked panicked.

He held her by the shoulders. "Listen to me. Whatever happens, you get back home and under the floor," he told her quietly. "You'll be safe there from the flare, like always."

"What are you going to do?"

He whipped out his taser stick. "Create a distraction."

Rouge stopped him. "Wait, how do I get home?" Shadow froze realizing she didn't know where they lived.

"Cadet Shadow. Why is your weapon out?" Antoine asked approaching the two. Antoine reached over and removed Rouge's mask. "Mask off."

"Uh, sir. She's fine. I already scanned her," he lied stepping in front of her.

He nodded but stopped when he looked down at his waist. "You don't have a scanner." He looked back at Rouge. "I.D. please."

"No, please. Lieutenant Antoine, I'm begging you, she needs to leave." He looked at his superior with seriousness. "Just let us walk out of here and I'll do anything you want."

"You're not a guardsman yet, cadet," he replied simply. He stared at Rouge. "I.D. now." Rouge bolted out of the room. "Stop her!"

Two guards near the door grabbed her before she could get away. Rouge shot Shadow a frightened look as their secret was getting out. At that moment Shadow couldn't do anything. He was completely helpless.

**End Flashback: Present Day**

Shadow and the others kept walking. "There's no fog," Shadow said.

"False alarm?" Mighty replied.

Shadow looked to his right and saw a red echidna jumping over some logs making his way away from the group. "He doesn't see us," Shadow said keeping his eyes locked on the echidna. "I'm going after him."

"And what, kill him?" Sonic asked in disbelief.

"No. Catch him," he replied dignified. "Make him tell me where Rouge is, then kill him." He ran after him.

•~•

The red echidna came back into the cave and approached Rouge from behind. She had a rock secretly kept in her hands. She waited for the right moment and swung it at his head knocking him out. On his waist were the keys to her lock. She grabbed them and started to unlock herself. She heard a noise coming up from behind her and Shadow appeared in the cave. "Shadow?" she gasped.

"Rouge!" he ran to her side and helped unhooked her shackles. Sonic and Mighty came in behind.

"Mighty, watch the entrance," Shadow instructed. He nodded and left. Sonic stood besides the grounder and stared down at him. Once Rouge was free she hugged her brother and he hugged back. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

On the floor the grounder began to wake up and pretended to lie still on the ground.

**Flashback: Two weeks ago**

Shadow entered his empty cabin. His mother had been floated two years ago and his sister was now in prison. Someone knocked on his door and he went and opened it. Antoine stood on the other side. "Cadet Shadow."

"It's janitor Shadow now, lieutenant," he replied uninterested.

"Commander, actually." He stepped inside his room. "A lot's changed in the past year."

Shadow watched as Antoine made himself at home. "You've got some nerve coming in here after pushing the button that floated my mother," he growled.

"I was just following orders," he argued.

"What the hell do you want from me?" he spat.

"You were a hell of a guardsman, Shadow. You know that?' He put his arms behind his back. "Smart, hardworking, resourceful," he listed.

"-I wasn't a guardsman. That's what you said, remember?"

"You also said you'd do anything to protect your sister, remember?" he smirked. "I hope that's still true."

Shadow became worried. His features softened. "Is she okay?"

"What I'm about to tell you is classified." He walked around the room. "Chancellor Jaha has approved a mission to Mobius. He's sending the juvenile prisoners to the ground. That includes your sister."

He shook his head. "No, it's not safe. You have to stop them."

"I wish I could." He circled around Shadow. "What I can do is get you a seat on that drop ship, because I agree, I don't think it's safe either."

"What do I have to do?" he asked out of desperation.

Antoine handed him a loaded gun. "Kill the chancellor."

Shadow took the gun reluctantly. He stared down at it before aiming the gun at him. "How about I kill you instead?"

Antoine stared down the barrel with composure. "Kill me and your sister goes alone to a radiation soaked planet, and you get floated like your mother."

Shadow lowered his arm with the gun. He had a point. Antoine looked at his watch. "Ship launches in 20 minutes, Shadow. If we're going to do this we need to leave now."

**End Flashback: Present Day**

"We should go before he wakes up," Rouge said limping out with Shadow.

"He's not going to wake up," Shadow said grabbing a spear leaning against the wall.

"Shadow, stop!" Rouge begged. "He didn't hurt me." Sonic knelt down next to the grounder. He examined the horn attached to his waist.

"They started this." He held the spear up in the arrow ready to plunge it into his chest. "Sonic, move!" he ordered.

"…Foghorn," Sonic muttered.

Suddenly out of nowhere the grounder grabbed a knife from his side and stabbed it into Sonic's side. Sonic fell to the ground and the echidna jumped to his feet. The grounder had Shadow pinned on his back in seconds, as he tried to force a spear down onto his throat.

"Stop, that's my brother!" Rouge pleaded.

Mighty came up from behind the grounder and knocked him out with a log. The echidna fell to the ground unconscious.

•~•

Amy reappeared inside the tent. Sally had her back to her as she continued working on the radio. "Hey, how's it coming?"

Sally stopped what she was doing and turned towards Amy with a serious expression. "Amy, I think it's time for the truth. I can't pretend to act nice around you any longer."

Amy was dumbfounded. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't pretend to not know. I overheard you and Sonic talking. You and Sonic had something going on between you, didn't you?" she accused. Amy remained silent as she was at a loss of words. Sally crossed her arms. "Don't think you're anything special…" she scoffed while turning away from her.

Amy felt guilty. "Do you think I wanted this?" she asked through a shaky voice. "I didn't even know you existed…" Sally turned around in surprise. How could Sonic not tell Amy about her? "Look, as far as he knew, you were dead, Sally, or would have been soon enough."

She closed her eyes. "He could have waited more than ten days…" She wiped her teary eyes. Amy watched as Sally preoccupied herself with fixing the radio.

She backed out of the drop ship and left. "I'm sorry, it was a mistake." Just as she exited the drop ship she heard her name being called from a far. "Amy!" Mighty shouted as the group got back to camp.

"Where's Rose?" Shadow shouted from the other side of the fence.

Amy came running over to the entrance of camp. "What's wron-" her eyes landed on Shadow carrying Sonic in his arms. He was passed out and had a knife sticking out of his side. "Sonic…Sonic!?" she said running over to him. "Oh, my god!" Amy felt for his pulse and waited. "He's alive." She looked to Shadow. "Get him in the drop ship." Shadow nodded and made his way back to the drop ship with Sonic.

Sally came out and saw her boyfriend unconscious. "Oh my god…Sonic!" She flocked over to Amy. "Can you save him?"

"I don't know…I need my mother," she said looking frantic.

"I'll keep working on the radio," she said before running off. She knew she needed to fix that radio if she wanted her boyfriend to live.

•~•

**Author's Note:** This was one of my favorite chapters to write! I hope you all enjoyed getting a glimpse into Shadow & Rouge's past! Please remember to leave a review.


	9. Under Pressure

A storm was brewing outside, and everyone was forced to get back in the drop ship for coverage from the storm. The strong winds blew the parachutes they used for tents, and teens outside tried to carry in belongings. Amy stared from inside the drop ship entrance at the rain whipping down around them. She had never experienced anything like it before.

Inside the ship, Sally tried getting in contact with the ark. "This is Sally Acorn calling ark station. Come in ark station." Amy came up from behind her trying to patch in to the ark. It didn't sound like it was going well. Sally was becoming more frustrated by the second. "Can anyone hear me?"

"You sure you have the right frequency?" a girl standing nearby asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Sally snapped.

Amy put a hand on her shoulder. "Sally? You can do this, okay?" she said assuringly. Sally nodded calming down and focusing.

Amy approached a metal table they had Sonic resting on. He was on his back and was still unconscious. The knife was still sticking out of his side. Sally looked over to her boyfriend and could see the bad state he was in. He had lost a lot of blood and was starting to look pale. This only motivated her to keep trying. "Calling ark station. I'm on the ground with the 100. We need you," she whispered hopelessly.

•~•

Back on the ark, the entire council met in the council room. "Both Jaha and I saw those flares," Abby argued to the skeptical council.

"Enough about that," Kane dismissed.

"No. It means someone is alive on Mobius. It means that our children might still be alive," she retorted.

Kane looked away uninterested. "More false hope." He sighed. "Abby, those flashes could've been anything. Lightning, radiation in the atmosphere," he listed.

"-In any case, whatever they were…that's a matter for the council to discuss," Jaha said. "But you are no longer on the council," he said looking at Abby. "Your life's been spared of all your recent crimes."

She closed her eyes sadly. "Fine." She took off her council pin on her shirt and laid it down on the table. A faded static sound interrupted the room and an indistinctive voice came through the static. "Did you hear that?" Abby said trying to listen.

The voice started to come through more clearly. "Calling ark ship."

"Sally. She's still alive!" Abby said realizing whom it was.

"Are you there?" Sally asked. "Please come in."

Abby grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair and quickly left the room. She needed to speak with Sally. Throughout the rest of the ship the residents could hear Sally's voice coming through the intercom. "The 100! They're alive!" some people said.

•~•

Back on the ground, Sally was just about ready to give up when another voice got back through to her on the radio. "This is a restricted channel. Who is this? Please identify yourself," Jackson said.

Sally was surprised she had finally gotten through. "This is Sally Acorn. I'm from mecha station. I-I'm transmitting from the ground," she said anxiously. Some of the teens swarmed behind Sally after hearing she was able to patch through. "The 100 are alive. Please, you need to get Dr. Abby."

Jackson typed away at his computer as he wore a headset. "Hold on, Sally. We're trying to boost your signal," he said while pushing away at buttons and switches.

Abby had just made it back to the communications room. Jaha and Kane came in behind her. "Did you confirm the signal's origin?" Jaha asked to Jackson.

"Yes, sir. It's coming from Mobius," the rabbit replied. Both Jaha and Kane were speechless. They both had doubted Abby on being right.

"Sally. Are you there?" Abby asked while putting on a headset.

"Mom?" a voice said from the other side. Abby was taken aback from hearing the familiar voice. "Mom, it's me," Amy said on the other side.

"Amy?" her mother gasped.

"Mom, I need your help. One of our people was stabbed by a grounder," Amy explained on the other end.

Jaha put on a headset so he could talk to her too. "Amy, this is the Chancellor. Are you saying there are survivors on the ground?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes. The planet is survivable. We're not alone," she replied. Everyone in the communications room was speechless. "Mom, he's dying. The knife is still in his chest."

"Okay, can you patch me through to medical?" Abby asked to Jackson. He nodded and typed away on his tablet computer.

While he did that, Jaha asked another question. "Amy, is Silver with you?"

Amy was pacing by the radio with Sally and bit her lower lip when the question arose. She shook her head sadly. "I'm so sorry…Silver is dead."

Jaha stepped back in shock and took the headphones off. His face was stricken with sadness. "Patch her in to me when they're finished," he said to Jackson before leaving. Abby watched the chancellor leave completely blindsided by the horrible news.

Abby went back to focusing on Amy. "I'm going to talk you through it, step by step," she explained. "Amy, give five," she suddenly cut out with static. "To medical. Medic-" static cut in again.

Amy furrowed her brows trying to listen to her mother. "What? Sally, what's wrong?" she asked from the miscommunication.

Sally messed with the dials through the drop ship mainframe. She fiddled with it trying to get it come through clearer. "It's the storm."

"Abby, you should look at this," Jackson said. Abby turned and looked at one of the many monitors behind her. "There's a hurricane right on top of them." On the screen showed a category 4 hurricane right over their location.

"Amy, we need to hurry," Abby said through her microphone.

•~•

Back in the drop ship, Rouge came in from the rain with two canisters of alcohol. Amy unscrewed it and took a sniff. "Ugh, Tails' moonshine?"

"Pretty sure no germ can survive it," Rouge replied. Amy continued setting up her medical tools she had salvaged. She had a needle, scalpel, knife, thread, hot water, and bandages.

Sally came over and looked at Amy. "Tell me you can do this?"

Amy opened her mouth to speak but someone cut her off. "Hey, Shadow's back!" Everyone turned to look at the drop ship door. Shadow walked in with Tails and Mighty as they dragged an unconscious grounder in. Shadow shook off the water that drenched him once he was inside. Rouge stormed over to her brother when she saw the red echidna in his possession. "What the hell are you doing?"

"It's time to get some answers," he replied calmly.

"You mean revenge?" she spoke disappointedly.

"I mean Intel," he responded dignified. He looked to Tails and Mighty. "Get him up stairs."

"Shadow, she's right…" Amy said coming up next to him. Before he could speak another voice cut him off.

"-Amy, honey, we're ready," her mother said through the radio. "Can you hear me?"

Shadow looked over to the radio. "Looks like you're busy," he said before walking off.

"This is not who we are," Amy said at his retreating figure.

"Amy?" her mother repeated.

Shadow climbed the ladder. "It is now."

Amy flocked back to the radio to talk to her mother. "The blade is at a sharp upward angle, between the sixth and seventh ribs," Amy explained over the radio to her mother.

"Okay, how deep?" Abby asked as she stood in the medical ward with monitors around her.

"I can't tell how deep it goes," Amy replied truthfully.

Abby and Jackson looked at each other. "That's all right. Just don't remove the knife yet."

Amy poured some of the alcohol onto her hands to sterilize them. She handed over the container to Sally who paced besides her boyfriend. "Here sterilize." Sally took it and dumped some alcohol on her hands and rubbed them together.

The radio crackled again. "Amy, do you see any fluid?" Abby asked over the radio.

Amy looked and couldn't see any. She put the back of her hand against Sonic's forehead. "He feels a little warm…"

"That's all right," Abby responded. "Fever's sometimes accompany trauma. I need you tell me if there is any fluid leaking from the wound," Abby asked explicitly. She had a computer screen up with a mock image of the human body where the knife was plunged. That way she could envision it better.

"No," Amy replied as she looked.

Abby smiled. "That's good. Actually, really good…" her mother said in relief.

•~•

Upstairs Shadow stood back as the grounder awoke from his unconsciousness. Shadow had him chained standing up. Both his arms were chained apart and his body formed an "X".

"He's awake," Mighty said backing up. The echidna thrashed at the chains trying to break free but it was no use. Rouge climbed up the ladder when she heard the commotion from upstairs. When the echidna caught sight of Rouge he stopped struggling and just stared. Shadow looked over to where he was looking and saw his sister.

"Rouge, get out of here," Shadow ordered.

"I told you, he was protecting me," she said as she approached her brother. "You didn't have to do this."

"This isn't about you," Shadow said while staring her down. "I'm doing this for all of us."

"You did that for all of us?" she said pointing over at the grounder.

"I did that for Tails, Fiona, Lightning, and Sonic," he said listing all those hurt or killed by grounders.

"It wasn't even him," she defended.

"You don't know that!" he yelled back. "We need to know what we're up against, how many there are, and why they're killing us." The echidna just watched as the two siblings fought. He kept a poker face while he stared their way. "He's going to tell us right now," Shadow said shooting him a glare.

Shadow walked over to the echidna. Rouge tried to grab at his hand but he yanked it from her. "No, Shadow, please!" she begged.

"Drago, get her out of here," he ordered.

"No, I was there!" Drago walked over and grabbed her from behind. "Hey, no, let me go!" she began to thrash in his grip. The moment Rouge became in distress the grounder started to become agitated, and pulled at his chains. Drago carried her down the ladder and out of sight. Shadow stepped in his path of sight at the ladder. "Don't look at her," he said lowly.

•~•

On the ark, Chancellor Jaha sat in his quarters as he looked at a photo of Silver and him standing together proudly. He couldn't believe his son was gone. He wanted to spend a moment alone by himself when he heard a knock on his door. He walked over and opened it. Alicia, a brown adult squirrel stood on the other side. "Hello, Mr. Chancellor. I just need a moment."

"If you're here to talk about Abby's council seat, now isn't a good time," he said abruptly.

"Trust me, you need to hear this." He moved out of her way allowing her inside. Alicia stepped inside his room with gratitude. She stared around the room. "Ah, I remember when I was Chancellor."

"Get to the point. What do you want, Alicia?"

"My people are angry and confused," she started.

"Your people?" he said before taking a seat at his desk.

She walked over and stood in front of it. "Yes, the workers," she specified. "They're coming to me with dangerous questions. Many of them lost loved ones in the culling. The belief that your administration let people die when there was another way has taken root," she explained.

"I don't suppose your trying to convince them otherwise."

"If you don't get in front of these rumors, things are going to get ugly fast." Alicia looked over to a tablet lying on his desk and saw the files that were up. "You activated project Exodus?" she said in surprise. He turned off his screen avoiding letting her see any more of it. "Guess you'll forever be remembered as the man who brought us back to the ground."

"You know I can't talk to you about that, Alicia."

"True. But I'm here as an ally," she said. "The decisions that you now must make implementing project Exodus are unimaginably difficult." She leaned closer to him. "The ark needs unity now more than ever."

He sighed. "You're right." He dragged a hand down his tired defeated face. "Would you consider taking the open council seat?"

Alicia smiled. "Of course, sir."

•~•

Back downstairs on the drop ship, Abby was preparing her daughter to remove the knife. "Okay, Amy, firm grip on the knife," she told her sternly. "You're going to need to angle it upward, and to the left very slightly as it exits the rib cage."

"How very slightly?" Amy asked nervously.

"Three millimeters. Any more could be bad," she explained.

"Okay, got it…" she looked down at Sonic. "Alright, here it goes…"

"Steady hand, Amy. You've assisted me on trickier procedures than this," her mother said giving her encouragement. "Once the knife is out, the hard part is over."

She gulped. "Alright, extracting now." Amy grabbed the handle of the knife with one hand. Using the other hand, she rested it on Sonic's chest gently, and began to slowly pull it out, but Sonic started to wake up.

Sally looked down at her boyfriend in fear. "He's waking up!"

Sonic gasped and grunted in pain. "Uuuh!"

"Hold him still," Amy instructed Sally.

Sally put her hands down on his arms trying to keep his upper body still. Amy looked down sympathetically at her friend. "Sonic, I'm trying to get the knife out of you, okay?"

He tried to put on a brave face by smiling. "Good plan," he said while shutting his eyes. As Amy continued slowly pulling the knife out, Sonic grunted and tried to move under their procedure.

"Sonic, you can't move." Amy said while looking down at him.

"Nice and slow, Amy," her mother said on the other end.

"Do. Not. Move," Amy ordered him. "I've almost got it."

Sonic gritted his teeth in pain as he tried to stay still. She finally got the knife out of him and held it in her bloody hand. "It's out!" Sally said happily.

•~•

Upstairs Shadow was busy interrogating the grounder. "One more time." He circled around him. "What's your name?" The echidna remained in silence. "Where's your camp?" Again the echidna stayed silent. "How many of you are there?"

"Hey, check it out," Drago said from the other side of the deck. Shadow walked over and kneeled down besides the wolf. Drago had gone through some of the grounders belongings in his bag, and found a tin filled with vials of liquids. "What is this stuff?"

"Hell knows with these people," Shadow replied shooting an irate stare the grounder's way. There was a leather book lying in his bag and Shadow picked it up and opened it. The moment Shadow started to open the book the grounder began to thrash in his chains. "Clearly he doesn't want us to see what's in here," he smirked. Shadow flipped through some pages and saw illustrations of the jungle, landmarks, and a drawing of Rouge."

Shadow looked over to the grounder when he stopped on the sketch of his sister. He scoffed and flipped to the next page of a drawing of their camp. Besides it were check marks scratched out. "…Our camp." He looked at the marks on the page next to it. "I'm guessing if I counted all those marks, it would add up to 101."

"Three are crossed out," Drago pointed out.

"That's how many people we've lost," Shadow said standing back up. "They've been watching us ever since we got here," he said as he approached the grounder.

•~•

On the bottom level of the drop ship, Amy finished stitching Sonic up. "Okay, I'm done."

"Good. Do you have anything to cover the wound?" her mother asked through the radio.

"Yes," Amy replied.

"-Okay, honey, you did great. Let me know if he gets any worse, but I think you did it." Amy wiped her forehead avoiding letting her bloody fingers touch her face. "Sally, do you think you could give Amy and I a moment of privacy?" Abby asked politely.

Sally went to get up but Amy stopped her. "No, stay here. I have something else to tend to." Amy got up and started climbing the ladder.

"Amy, Amy?" her mother called. "What's wrong with her, Sally?"

"I'm not sure," Sally replied.

Amy came up to the second level of the drop ship. She was disgusted when she saw the way Shadow had the grounder chained up. She pulled herself up. "Well, if he didn't hate us before, he does now," she said in disgust.

Shadow grabbed Amy by the wrist and dragged her out of ear sight of the grounder. "Who cares," he whispered. "How's Sonic?" he asked.

"Alive," she replied to his second question. "His people will _care_ though," she said looking back to the grounder. "They'll come looking for him, Shadow."

"Relax, princess. No one saw us take him." Shadow pulled out the book and flipped it to the page of the markings. "Besides, his people are already killing us." Amy looked at the page and stayed quiet. "How many more of our people need to die?" he asked.

"We're not soldiers, Shadow. Look at him," she whispered. "We can't win."

"You're right, we can't if we don't fight," Shadow whispered back.

"Amy, he's seizing!" Sally called from down below.

"I'm coming!" she shouted as she made her way for the ladder.

On the metal slab, Sonic's whole body was seizing out of control. "He was fine and t-then," Sally stuttered as she stared at Sonic.

Amy rushed over to his side. "Get my mom on the radio, now!"

"The radio's dead. There's interference from the storm," she said trying to fix it. Amy held Sonic down by his shoulders to control his movement.

Sally helped hold him down. "Please don't let him die," she begged to Amy. "He's all I have…"

After a few minutes, Sonic stopped seizing but had foam in his mouth. "Help me get him onto his side," she instructed Sally. They moved him on his side and the liquid left his open mouth. Amy put the back of her hand to his forehead. "God, he's burning up…"

"Did the knife hit something?" Sally asked frantically.

"No, this isn't blood. It's something else…" she looked up slowly. "He's been poisoned."

"We sterilized everything though," Sally interjected.

Amy's eyes landed on the knife on the table. "Not everything…" She went over and grabbed the knife, and started climbing to the second floor. "Stay here."

Once Amy was on the second floor she marched up the grounder with the knife in hand. Shadow watched her in puzzlement. She held it up to the echidna's face as she stared him in the eyes. "What's on this?"

"What are you talking about?" Shadow asked as he watched her.

"He poisoned the blade!" she shouted back at him. "All this time he knew Sonic was going to die. What is it?" she barked in the echidna's face. The echidna remained silent under the interrogating and looked at her uninterested. "Is there an antidote?"

"He doesn't understand you, Amy," Rouge said from behind her.

Shadow's eyes widened when he thought of something. "Vials." He walked over and grabbed the tin of vials. "One of them has to be it." Shadow handed her the tin and Amy started looking through them. Amy threw the knife onto the floor near Rouge.

"Which one?" Amy asked as she held up a vial with red liquid.

"Answer the question!" Shadow growled.

"Show us, please," Rouge begged.

"I'll get him to talk," Shadow said grabbing a seatbelt that he cut. He held the cut end with the metal clip dangling down. He began to whip him across the chest leaving lashes on his chest. The grounder grunted in pain as the metal inflicted damage across his skin.

"We're running out of time," Amy knelt down in front of the echidna with the vials spread out. "If you tell us he'll stop. Please which one?" she begged.

Shadow inflicted another three lashes. "Please tell them," Rouge begged. She was tired of seeing the grounder get tortured.

Shadow walked over and grabbed his own makeshift knife. "Maybe I have to up the anti."

Rouge ran over and grabbed the knife that the echidna had used to stab Sonic. "Stop!" Rouge shouted ending Shadow's torture.

Shadow watched as Rouge took the knife and made a gash on her arm with it.

"Rouge, no!" Shadow shouted.

The echidna pulled forward on his chains and shook his head at Rouge's dangerous move. Rouge watched as she bled onto the floor. "He won't let me die."

Shadow grabbed Rouge from going any closer to the echidna. "Rouge, what the hell are you-" The white bag shrugged away from Shadow and fell onto her knees in front of the grounder. She used the knife and pointed to different vials laid out on the floor. "This one?" she said pointing to orange liquid. The grounder stayed quiet as he stared down at the choice she was pointing to. She picked up some liquid that was green and held it up so he could see better. "It's this one, right?"

The grounder nodded slowly at her choice. Rouge handed Amy the vial, "Here."

"Thank you!" Amy said in gratitude.

Rouge wrapped her injured arm while looking up at the grounder. Shadow came up from behind her and went to touch her but Rouge flinched out reach. "Don't touch me!"

•~•

Downstairs, Amy fed Sonic half of the antidote while he rested. "How do we know if it works?" Sally asked while she held his hand.

"We'll know when he wakes up," Amy responded. "He'll need some water when he wakes up. Do you mind?" she asked.

Sally nodded and walked off to get some. "Sure."

Amy stared down at Sonic as she stood over him. She began to break down and cry. She rested her head against his chest while he was asleep. "Sonic, I can't do this without you," she sobbed quietly.

"Hello? Amy, can you hear me?" her mother said on the radio.

Amy wiped her tears away. "I-I'm here."

"The storm is passing. How's Sonic doing?"

She quickly composed herself. "I think he'll do okay…"

"I'm so proud of you. Your father would be so proud, too."

She narrowed her eyes at the mention. "Don't talk about him. I know he's dead because of you! You turned him in. Silver told me everything before he died."

On the other end, Abby was upset. She never wanted her daughter to know the truth. "Amy…I want you to listen to me. That was never supposed to happen. Jaha was supposed to talk him out of it."

"I'm done talking to you!" she said turning off the radio in frustration.

"Amy? Amy?" She started crying more. "No…"

•~•

Rouge was up with the grounder. Drago was asleep in the corner. She wiped off his bloody chest and face with a wet rag. "I'm so sorry… You saved my life and look at the thanks you get? I never wanted any of this to happen to you," she said quietly.

The grounder looked down at her weakly. "Thank you," he whispered.

"Hey," Drago said rubbing his eyes. "Did he just talk?"

"No," she quickly dismissed while cleaning him off.

He stood up and approached her. "Your brother doesn't want you up here, you know. Let's go." She nodded and left.

Downstairs, Sonic began to groan as he woke up. Amy stood by his side as his eyes opened. "Hey…"

Amy smiled down at him. "Hey."

He grinned. "Good save, Ames."

"It wasn't just me," she whispered. Amy looked over to the other side where Sally was asleep in a sleeping bag. "She needs you, Sonic," she whispered. Amy went over and shook Sally gently. "Sally, he's awake. He was asking for you," she lied.

Sally came over and joined his side. "I thought I lost you," she said as she stroked his face. Amy left the drop ship to give the two some alone time. She knew this was the right thing to do at the end of the day.

As she walked outside she looked at the devastation that the storm had left. There were fallen trees, branches and other debris everywhere. Their progress of creating the camp had been wiped clean. Shadow came up behind her. "We'll get it cleaned up," he assured her.

"I wish this was our only mess…"

Shadow put his hand on her shoulder. "Amy." He looked into her eyes. "Who we are and who we need to be to survive, are very different things, you know."

"What are we going to do with him?" she said looking back at the drop ship. "We can't lock him up forever."

"If we let him go, he'll come back and he won't be alone," Shadow argued. "It's not easy being in charge, is it?" he grinned weakly.

"No, it's not."

•~•

**Author's Note:** So, how'd you guys like this chapter? This will be the last chapter I'll be posting for a bit. It's the holidays after all and i know people are busy traveling, working, or finishing school and whatnot. You'll probably see the next update after New Years. I'm also traveling myself. I'm moving to California for a new job, so yeah. Happy Holidays!


	10. Day Trip Part I

**Author's Note:** Decided to update a little earlier. Hope you all enjoy!

•~•

Shadow sat in the drop ship with the grounder. He was still chained standing up and had his eyes closed as he tried to sleep. Shadow stared at him in silence. He was deep in thought about what the grounder had done with his sister, and what Amy had said to him. The hatch to the floor opened and Drago appeared.

"Did you talk to the ark?" Shadow inquired.

"Yeah, I talked to Fiona and Lightning's parents. Sucks that they had to die at the hands of grounders." He looked over at the echidna in spite. "If only we could get some justice…"

"-We're not killing him," Shadow replied flatly.

Drago nodded and walked up close to the echidna. "You were a lot scarier when you had that face paint on." He slapped the side of his face. The echidna growled before head-butting Drago in the face. Drago fell to the floor and grunted holding his bloodied nose.

Shadow just watched and didn't react by lashing out. He only smirked to himself.

•~•

Meanwhile downstairs, Amy and Jaha talked over the intercom that Sally had made. The two could now see and hear each other through screens and audio.

"Tell me about the grounders," Jaha asked. "Can you provide any insight on how to survive winter?"

"We're doing everything we can to prepare here," Amy explained on the other end. "We're gathering nuts and berries, curing meats, digging for roots. Truth is though, we'll freeze before we starve."

"There's good news on that front," Kane interrupted sitting besides Jaha. "According to civil defense plans from before the war, there's an old emergency aid depot not far from the landing site." He held up a tablet with a map towards the webcam. "Here are the coordinates."

Amy began to jot the coordinates down on some paper. "In addition to supplies, it could provide shelter for the hundred, and for the citizens coming down from the ark," Jaha explained.

"And what makes you think it's intact?" Amy asked skeptically.

"It was designed to withstand nuclear warfare," Kane answered.

She shrugged. "Worth a shot."

"Chancellor, I have to object. Project Exodus is under way. The kids should sit tight in their camp until the first drop ship launches," Alicia stated.

"Even if everything goes without a hitch, the hundred would die from exposure before relief arrives," Jaha argued. He looked to the rest of the council sitting at the table. "I'd like a minute alone with, Amy." Everyone nodded and got up. "I know there's a line of parents waiting to talk to their kids," Jaha mentioned to his council members as they headed out the door. Once everyone was gone, Jaha sighed in relief. "Amy, we are all very proud of what you have done down there. Your mother-"

"-I don't want to talk about my mother," she dismissed quickly

"Please, Amy. It's time to forgive," he pleaded. "Let me schedule a time for you and Abby to -"

"-Look. I know you both think that betraying and killing my dad, was an unavoidable tragedy, but I don't see it that way, and I never will." She looked down at her papers. "Just tell me who's next and let someone who actually wants to talk to their parents have a turn."

He sighed. "Very well…"

•~•

Amy left the drop ship with a pad of paper in hand. Everyone outside was still clearing debris and fixing tents outside. "Predator?" she called. No one answered and Amy walked over to a table where Mighty and Tails were. The two were organizing nuts and berries in tins. "You guys seen P?" she asked.

"Over there on the meat crew," Tails pointed.

Amy walked over to another table where people were stripping meat. A blue hawk had his back towards Amy, as he stood at the table. "Predator, you're up," she said approaching him.

He looked back at her with the bloody meat in hand, and put it down on the table. He didn't say a word to her as he made his way towards the drop ship.

Predator sat down inside the drop ship in front of the webcam and monitor. No one was on the screen yet as he waited. He picked up the headset and placed it on. Suddenly Antoine appeared on the screen. "Uh, where's my mom?"

"You can see her after you and I have a little talk," he responded. He looked around. "Are you alone?"

"Yeah, why?" he asked confused.

"If I remember correctly, you beat a man to death."

He narrowed his eyes. "He stole from me," he defended.

"Relax, kid," he chuckled. "I have a problem, and I think you can help me fix it. In return I can guarantee your mother a spot on the first drop ship. For you, I can assign you a choice assignment when I get to the ground," he wagered.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked curiously.

"Kill Shadow the hedgehog."

•~•

Shadow climbed down the ladder to the second floor and saw Rouge sitting on a chair. "You're still here?"

She had her arms crossed and her feet kicked up on a box. "I'm not moving until you let me up there to see him," she replied in a droned tone.

"Get comfortable then," he replied. She huffed at his response. "I let him live. Isn't that enough?"

"He saved my life and yours," she argued.

"I know you see it that way, but-"

"-That's the way it is!" she shouted.

He furrowed his brows. "He's still dangerous."

"Only because of what you did," she pointed.

"Whatever twisted connection you think you have with that savage, forget it," he scoffed. "You don't get to see him. End of conversation," Shadow said walking out.

"You should want me to go up there. Maybe you'll get lucky and he'll kill me, then I'm no longer your problem."

"Rouge, don't say that…"

Amy walked into the drop ship interrupting the sibling's disagreement. "Shadow."

He turned to her. "The answer is still no. I'm not talking to Jaha," Shadow assumed while brushing past her.

"Hey, relax. That's not why I'm here," she replied.

He stopped and looked at her. "What then?"

"The ark found some old records that show a supply depot not too far from here."

He raised a curious brow. "What kind of supplies?"

"The kind that might give us a chance to live through winter," she retorted. "I'm going to go check it out. I could use backup," she hinted.

He crossed his arms. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because right now, I don't feel like being around anyone I actually like," she quipped.

He gave a low chuckle at her response, and glanced over to Rouge. "I'll get my stuff. Meet you in ten." Amy nodded and left the drop ship.

•~•

Back with Mighty and Tails, the two broke open nuts and put them in little cloth bags as rations. "What do you think they're going to do with the grounder?" Tails asked.

"I'd rather not think about it," Mighty replied as he sorted through nuts.

"It's been days since Shadow captured him," Tails whispered as they saw Shadow walk through camp. "How long till his friends come looking?"

Mighty gently bumped Tails' shoulder with his fist playfully. "Cheer up. In that time, we'll all be dead from hypothermia," he cracked. Mighty picked up a green bean and gestured he would toss it in Tails' mouth.

Tails opened his mouth and Mighty successfully tossed the bean in. Tails began to chew it. "Hey!" he laughed. The two high-fived and laughed together.

•~•

Amy was in Sonic's tent to check in on him. "How are you feeling?" she asked as she kneeled by his bed. Sally sat off to the side while Amy looked at his stitches. It had been a couple of days now and his wound was healing nicely.

"Weak, bored," Sonic listed. He winced as Amy cleaned his wound. "Grateful to be alive," he smiled.

"Well, if you want to stay that way, you need to rest," she replied.

"I'll tie him down if I have to," Sally joked.

Amy smiled weakly. "I'm going to be out of camp today," she said standing up. She looked to Sally. "Can you change his bandages in a few hours?"

"-Wait. Where are you going?" Sonic asked with concern.

"A little assignment from the ark. Nothing to worry about," she assured him.

He tried to sit up but grunted. "But it's not safe out there."

Sally couldn't help but to be a little jealous at Sonic's concern for Amy's wellbeing. She put a hand on his shoulder. "Sonic, Amy's a big girl. She can take care of herself."

Shadow popped his head inside the tent. "Rose, let's move."

Amy got up. "Make sure he stays in bed," Amy instructed to Sally on her way out.

"Sounds like a plan," she replied.

•~•

Outside the tent, Shadow stuffed a large amount of rations into his backpack. Amy came up behind him and stared in puzzlement. "That's a lot of rations… This is only a day trip you know."

He zipped up his backpack. "A lot can happen in a day." He slung his backpack over his shoulder, and headed out the gates. Amy followed behind him. Watching from the bonfire was Predator. He was knelt down by the fire, but stood when he saw his target on the move. He discreetly made his way out of the camp to tail the two. As he walked out of camp he tucked a knife away in his jacket.

•~•

Bark, a white polar bear climbed the ladder halfway to call up to the top. "Hey, Drago. Your mom is on the radio to talk. Get down here."

Drago climbed down the ladder and exited the drop ship. Rouge hid in the corner and waited for the coast to be clear. When Drago was gone she made her way up the ladder. As she opened the hatch she was happy to see the echidna. He still looked pretty beaten and bloody.

"Hey, we don't have a lot of time," she panted. She pulled out a water canteen. "I brought you some water." She held up the canteen so he could drink. "Sorry I haven't seen you since everything happened. My dick brother has been keeping me away," she said rolling her eyes.

The echidna smirked at her comment thinking it was funny. Rouge's eyes glistened. "You do understand me. I knew it!" She grabbed a rag in a bucket of water. "At least let me get you cleaned up." She used the wet rag and removed any dried blood from his chest. He allowed her to do but watched as she did. Rouge felt terrible looking at the lash marks across his chest. "This is all my fault because I freaked out when you locked me in that cave," she whispered. "You'd understand why if you knew how I grew up…"

"My name is Knuckles…" he grumbled.

"Knuckles?" she repeated. She was surprised he was talking more to her. "I'm Rouge." She stared into his eyes. "Is that all you're going to say?"

"It's not safe for us to talk," he said quietly.

"If we shouldn't talk, then why did you tell me your name?" she asked.

"I want you to remember me after I'm dead…"

"Don't say that. You're not going to die."

"Rouge…this ends only one way," he spoke weakly.

"Just talk to them. Tell them you're not the enemy."

"But I am," he responded.

The hatch door opened and Drago appeared. "Rouge, get the hell out now," he said as he spotted her.

"Shadow's not even here!" she argued.

"Get out or he gets the beating I've been aching to give," he said pointing at Knuckles.

"Okay, okay. I'm gone," she said while heading for the ladder.

•~•

Meanwhile out in the woods, Shadow and Amy journeyed to the depot. "You know the first drop ship is going to come soon," she said breaking the silence. "You can't avoid Jaha forever."

"I can try, but enough about me, let's move on to a different topic, such as faker." Amy froze in place as Shadow brought up the blue hedgehog. Shadow could sense she was uncomfortable around the topic. "Love in paradise not going too well, hm?" he smirked.

"H-how do y-you know?"

"It's obvious he has a thing for you. Even Silver could see it," he explained.

"Well, it's done now…" she said walking past him.

"Yeah, I can tell," he chuckled. The two came up over a hill that looked down at a destroyed depot. The building was still intact but barely. There was water that flooded around it since it was lower grounds.

"The depot's is supposed to be around here somewhere," she said.

"There's got to be a door," he said while looking around.

"Maybe he'll be lenient," Amy said going back to the topic of Jaha.

He sighed in frustration. "Look. I shot the man, Rose," he snapped. "He's not just going to forgive and forget. Let's just split up. We'll cover more ground." Shadow started making his way down the hill. "Stay in shouting distant."

From behind some rocks, Predator watched the two hedgehogs, as he stayed hidden. He was waiting for his time to strike.

•~•

Back at camp, Sally came in with a cup of water for Sonic. She saw he was still asleep and set the cup down on a table. She took off her jacket and laid it on the table next to the water. Sonic began to stir and opened his eyes slightly. "Hey."

Sally smiled. "Hey." She picked up the cup. "Thirsty?" He sat up slightly and nodded. Sally came over and fed him the water. He spilled some down onto his neck and chest. "Let me get that." She leaned over and began to kiss down his neck.

Sonic was confused at her sudden advances and froze in place. He wasn't really into it at, as his mind stayed on Amy. Sally suddenly lifted her leg and put it over his side, as she straddled him. She continued to kiss him sensually on his cheek and neck. Sonic placed a hand on her leg and began to kiss her back out of pity. He broke away from their kiss. "Wait. Wait," he said weakly as he started to feel guilty.

"I've been waiting since they locked you up on the ark," she said going in for another kiss.

"We can't, not until we talk," he said staring up at her.

"I don't want to talk." She kissed him again.

He stopped her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Something, happened, Sal."

"Sonic, I know, and I don't want to talk about it…" She started to go in to kiss him again but he stopped her again.

"-But."

"Ever." She looked down. "Do you love me?"

He stared up at her as he thought about his answer. "Always…"

She smiled weakly. "Okay, then." She went back in for a kiss and he kissed her back. His hands wrapped around her waist and traced underneath her shirt, Sally cupped the sides of his face as she deepened their kiss. Sonic tried to sit up more but Sally stopped him. "You're supposed to be resting," she teased while easing him back down. "Let me." She lifted her shirt up leaving her in her bra.

Sonic watched her and a small smirk came onto his face, as she stripped in front of him.

•~•

Shadow had separated from Amy trying to find the depot. His foot hit something metal under the ground and he stopped. He bent down and moved away some brush, hay, and grass to find a metal door. Predator was creeping up on Shadow while he was busy moving stuff out of the way. He ducked down when Shadow shouted for Amy. "Rose, get over here!"

Amy climbed up the hill where he was at and joined him. She tried to open the door but couldn't. "I think it's rusted shut."

"Here." Shadow moved her out of the way gently. "Watch your foot." He lifted up his axe and began hacking away at the handle. Shadow pried the door open and it revealed a set of stairs. The two descended the stairs together.

Amy ruffled through her bag and pulled out a flashlight she had taken from the bunker Sonic had found. She had two of them with her. "Here," she said handing one over to him.

"You really think this place hasn't been touched since the war?" he asked skeptically.

"We can only dream." They walked down more staircases that led deeper into the depot. As the two walked down the stairs, they came across a skeleton remain on the staircase. There were cobwebs everywhere as their light source shined in front of them.

Shadow stared at the poor bastard that died there. "Hell of a place to die."

"So much for living down here," Amy said as she shined her flashlight around. "This place is disgusting."

"Anything left down here is probably ruined," Shadow replied as he looked around.

"They must have distributed most of the supplies before the last bombs went off."

Shadow walked over to a metal container and opened the lid. Inside were some glow sticks. He cracked one and shook it making it glow. Amy walked over and opened a box that had blankets. "I found blankets."

"Excited about a couple of blankets?" he chuckled.

"It's something," she mumbled.

"How about a canteen or a med kit, or a decent friggen tent?" he said becoming more irate as he looked around. He came over to some metal barrels and slammed his hand on top of it. He opened one of the lids to look inside. There was only black grease inside. Out of frustration he kicked the metal barrel over making it fall onto its side. Amy looked over after hearing the noise and splash. As the liquid poured out of the barrel something else came out with it. Guns.

Shadow heard the metal clang on the ground and walked over. As he kneeled down and shined his flashlight on it he became excited. "Oh my god…" He picked one up and held it in his hands. There were machine guns, snipers, and rifles inside.

•~•

**Author's Note:** I split this chapter into two parts since it was really long! Hope you all are having a good holiday. Oh, and happy New Years! Remember to leave me a review! :)


	11. Day Trip Part II

**Author's Note:** Here's the next part! Thank you **adar13**, **Kalex Chwell**, **SonicLover23**, and **Guest** for your reviews.

Oh and **Guest**. As for your question of why Mighty? I like Mighty. I think he's an underrated character. Also I thought he fit well with the character I'm basing him around. Also Knuckles is, in this story. So, yeah.

•~•

"Mobius is scary," Tails said walking into his tent.

Mighty was sitting inside staring at his hands in astonishment. "No, it's amazing…" He closed his eyes and smiled. "Fresh air, trees-" he picked up a nut. "Nuts," He popped it into his mouth and ate it. "Mmm, these taste better than usual, right?" Tails stared at Mighty strangely as the armadillo plopped down onto his back. "I'd like to give Mobius a giant hug," he said in a daze.

Tails leaned in real close to his face. "You're acting weird."

Mighty laughed. "I feel weird, but in a good weird way," he said while giving him a wink.

"I gotta pee," Tails said before walking out.

Tails walked over to a corner of the fence and unzipped as he took a leak. There was a small opening in the fence were he could peer out. As he began to pee he saw something whizz past the fence. Startled he looked to where he thought he saw someone run. Tails zipped up after finishing and looked out the hole in the fence.

As he looked out a grounder ran past the fence. He shook his head thinking he was seeing things. As he leaned in closer a hand came shooting through the opening trying to grab him. "Aaah!" Tails screamed and fell back avoiding the hand.

"Rouge!" Tails shouted as he got up. Rouge was sitting outside sewing some clothes. She looked up when she heard her name being called. Tails rushed over to her side. He looked frantic. "I think I'm going crazy, or the grounders are here," he said pointing to the fence.

"Slow down. Tell me what you saw," she asked.

As Tails looked over to the bonfire, a grounder stood there with a spear in plain sight. Other teens walked around him not even noticing his presence. "Him…" Tails pointed to a spot where he saw the grounder. Rouge looked and saw nothing there.

"Tails there is no one there."

"He's right there!" he shouted while pointing. "We have to run. We have to run!" he said looking around panicked. "Why isn't anyone doing anything!" he shouted. People around camp gave him weird looks.

"Stop it!" She grabbed him. "Are you on something, Tails?"

He grabbed her by the arms. "I love you, I just want you to know this."

Rouge could see his eyes were dilated. Tails grabbed some nuts from his pocket and started to eat them, but Rouge grabbed his hand. "Is this all you've eaten today?"

"It is, but who cares now!?" he said throwing his hands up.

"You're totally stoned," she said with a deadpan expression. She bent down and grabbed a stick off the ground. "Relax, Tails." She handed him the stick. "Here buddy, take this."

He looked at it in his hands. "It's a stick…"

She shook her head. "No. This is an anti grounder stick," she smiled. "As long as you hold this, and you sit right here," she said sitting him down. "The grounders won't be able to see you."

"That makes sense…" He looked up at Rouge. "I'll just stay right here."

Rouge glanced over to the containers of rations. "Yeah… Stay right here."

Rouge came up to the level where Knuckles was held in the drop ship. Drago was keeping watch still, and became irate when he saw Rouge again. "Get out."

"Relax." She tossed him a bag of the nuts Tails was eating. "I thought you might be hungry." Drago caught it and opened it up. "I shouldn't have come up here alone earlier," she lied.

Drago fell for her fake apology and began to eat the nuts while he stared at Knuckles.

•~•

"This changes everything," Shadow said. He put up a blanket and marked it with black spray paint into an X. "No more running from spears," he explained to Amy as she sat back and watched. Shadow came up to her and smirked. "Ready to be a badass, Rose?"

Amy put down her packet of rations she was snacking on. "I'm not going to fight you on bringing guns back to camp. I know we need them, but don't expect me to like it," she said while staring down at them.

"We're lucky the rifles were packed in grease." He said as he cocked one. "The fact that they survived means we're not sitting ducks anymore." He handed her the gun. "You need to learn."

She sighed in defeat and nodded. Amy took the gun from him and positioned it against her shoulder. "So, I just hold it like this?"

"Yeah, just a little higher now," he instructed while helping her hold the gun correctly. His one hand rested on her back while his other hand moved her gun up. "Good." He realized his hand was touching her for too long, and retracted it quickly. "Yeah, uh, that's good." He walked a few feet away. "Watch and learn," he said while grabbing another rifle.

She moved out of the way and watched him. Shadow positioned his gun and aimed on his target, which was the blanket with the X. He went to fire but all the gun did was click. He cocked the gun looking at it strangely. Amy watched him to see how this was done. He tried to fire the gun again, but all it did was click.

"Still watching," Amy smirked.

He growled. "My bullets are duds. Try yours."

Amy aimed her gun and fired. A bullet flew out and hit just under the X. She had never felt such power before. "That was amazing…" she said smiling as she lowered her gun. She stopped smiling and looking back at Shadow. "Am I horrible for feeling that?"

He chuckled. "No, try again."

"We shouldn't waste the ammunition."

"You need to practice," he retorted.

"No. We need to talk about how we're going to keep guns around camp, where are we going to keep them? Who has access?"

Shadow ignored her questions and picked up another gun. He aimed and took a shot at his target. The bullet whizzed through the air and hit the target right in the middle of the X. Shadow stayed quiet and Amy stepped in front of him. "Shadow, what's going on? You've been acting weird all day." Amy's eyes landed on Shadow's backpack. "All the rations you took…you're going to run away," she deduced. "That's why you agreed to come with me."

"I don't have a choice. The ark will be here soon."

"So, you're just going to leave Rouge?" Amy asked in astonishment.

"Rouge hates me. She'll be fine," he said looking away. "I shot Jaha and they're going to kill me. Best case scenario, they lock me up with the grounder for the rest of my life. There's no way in hell I'm giving Jaha the satisfaction." He put the gun down and headed for the stairs. His head suddenly started to feel weird. "Keep practicing. I need some air."

•~•

Shadow got back to the surface and kneeled down on the floor. He rested his hands on his bent knees as he panted. He heard a branch snap and looked over to where he heard it. Standing there was Chancellor Jaha. "Shadow," he said holding his gun wound.

Shadow slowly rose to his feet as he stared in fear at the chancellor. He couldn't believe his own eyes. "How are you here?"

"You shot me but I've been waiting for you," he replied. He moved his hand and his wound started to bleed.

Shadow stared at him and kept a stoic expression. "I did what I had to do."

"To protect Rouge?"

"That's right…"

"How pathetic," he spoke as he approached him. "Using your sister to justify your crimes? Your cruelty, your selfishness?"

He narrowed his eyes at him. "If you're going to kill me just do it."

"Why should I kill you? Unlike the others, I survived your treachery," he spat.

He raised a brow. "What are you talking about?"

"The 320 souls that were culled from the ark so that others could live," he explained. "You knew that they would be sacrificed."

"I didn't know that would happen," he barked.

"It's not my forgiveness you should seek." His eyes landed to his right. "It's theirs."

Shadow looked to where Jaha was looking and saw 320 people from the ark walk out of the woods chanting. "Murderer." They looked like zombies as they staggered out from every direction around him. "Murderer."

Shadow dropped to his knees feeling the guilt sink in. "Stop!"

Meanwhile in the depot, Amy was still trying to practice with the gun, but started to feel strange. As she looked down the barrel, her surrounding began to swirl and contort strangely. She lowered her gun and backed up as she stared at the objects around her. She looked down at the gun in her hands and moved it. It appeared the gun could bend in any direction. "Whoa…"

She heard a noise behind her and spun around. Standing there was her father. "It's not what you imagined, is it?" he asked.

"Dad?" she gasped in shock. She ran and hugged him and he hugged back.

•~•

Back at camp, everyone had gotten into the nuts and were hallucinating around camp. People were dancing with themselves. Teens were laughing or rolling on the floor and making dirt angels. Rouge took this opportunity and grabbed a spare jacket on the ground. She made her way to the drop ship with it. She saw Drago was outside no longer guarding Knuckles. He was hugging a tree while he talked to it. "Good bunny…"

Inside a tent, Sonic and Sally lay in bed naked together. Sally laid her head on Sonic's chest as they cuddled together. Sonic had his arm around her and stared at the top of the tent. He felt like he needed to talk to her, but couldn't come up with anything. Suddenly Mighty burst into their tent. "Hey, is the moon in here?" he said looking around frantically.

Sonic grabbed their blanket and draped it over Sally to cover her more. "Mighty!"

"I can't change the tide if the moon won't cooperate!" he argued with panicked wide eyes.

Sonic stared at him bewildered. "Get out of here!"

Mighty's face hit realization. "It's basic physics." He turned around and left.

Sonic plopped his head onto his pillow and sighed. Sally sighed and got up. "Stay here."

Sally got dressed and walked out of the tent. As she got out she saw everyone was acting insane. She bent down and poked her head in the tent. "Scratch that. Get out here."

•~•

Back with Amy, she was still tripping out on the rations she had eaten previously. She hugged her father but then broke away. "You're not real, are you?" she asked while looking up at him with doubt.

"Sorry, kiddo. I wish I were," he replied.

"How is this possible?"

"This is about what you want," he replied.

"You're dead because of her," she sad sadly. "She doesn't deserve my forgiveness."

"Whatever. Crazy bitch," her father said with an angered look. Her reality snapped back and her father was no longer there.

"Dad?" she said looking around. Predator knocked her out from behind with a gun. Amy fell on the ground passed out.

•~•

Rouge returned to Knuckles with an assortment of clothes. "Don't move." She undid his chains and released him from his hold. "We need to go now!" she said as she quickly undid the ones around his legs.

"Why are you doing this? he asked as he fell to his knees. He was very weak.

She grabbed the jacket and put it on him. "Just get dressed."

He slipped on the jacket. "They'll know you helped me."

"You said it yourself. Stay here, you die," She zipped up the jacket. "I'm not letting that happen."

"I'm not going to put you in danger," he argued.

"You need to do this now!" she ordered.

"Okay, but even in these clothes I'll be seen."

"People are seeing plenty of things right now," she chuckled. She helped him walk and he grunted.

"What'd you do?" he asked curiously.

"Set out some of our winter rations," she smirked. She showed him the nuts.

"Jobi nuts, the food you gave my guard, they go bad. They cause visions but they wear off eventually."

"Just try to get as far away as you can," she encouraged. She patted his shoulders smoothing out his clothes so he could slip out easily undetected. "Try not to get yourself killed."

"Thank you." He leaned in and caught her in a kiss. She was surprised at first but then kissed him back. He broke away after a few moments and climbed down the ladder. Rouge stood there stunned by the romantic gesture.

•~•

Sonic burned the rest of the nuts after realizing they were causing hallucinations. He threw the last ones into the fire. Sally was busy hugging Bark and comforting him through his visions. "Tell me again," Bark smiled goofily.

"You're the most beautiful broom in a broom closet of brooms," she said rolling her eyes.

"Mmmm…" he hugged her and laughed. Sally allowed him to hug her and patted his pack reassuringly. Sonic watched and just laughed. He walked over when he saw another ration packet on the ground by the drop ship. He bent over while grunting to pick it up when Knuckles came out of the drop ship. They locked eyes and Knuckles froze in place fearing Sonic would call for help or stop him.

Sonic did nothing but nod his head in the direction of the exit. There was no talking but Knuckles could understand their communication through looks. Knuckles nodded his head in respect and bolted out of there before anyone else noticed.

•~•

Meanwhile, Shadow was still dealing with his vision as the 320 victims of the ark surrounded him. "Murderer!" He was trapped as they encircled him. Someone tapped him on the shoulder. It was Jaha. Shadow looked up at him with mercy. "Please, just kill me," he begged. It started to rain down on them. "I deserve it, please," he whispered. Jaha backhanded Shadow hard in the face making him fall to his right. Shadow stumbled to his hands in knees in the mud. "I can't fight anymore…"

"Don't you know? Life is a fight," Jaha laughed. He kicked him hard in the stomach making him land further back.

Shadow gasped as he had the air winded from him. "What am I suppose to do?" he asked through gasped breaths.

"Suffer…" Jaha said as he circled him.

Shadow looked up, and Jaha punched him hard in the face. Suddenly Shadow's visions wore off and instead of Jaha standing in front of him, it was Predator. "Nothing personal, man" he smirked as he cocked a gun in his face. Shadow laid on his back looking up at him in surprise. Predator went to shoot his gun but it didn't fire. It was the bad gun Shadow had tried to use earlier.

"Put it down, P." Amy said while holding a gun behind Predator's head.

He spun around and aimed his gun at her. "You should've stayed down there, Amy. I tried not to kill you, but here you are. And Antoine said no witnesses."

"What is he talking about?" Amy asked to Shadow.

Shadow realized what was happening. "Antoine set it up… He gave me the gun to shoot the chancellor."

"Walk away now, and I won't kill you," Predator warned to Amy.

"Put. It. Down," she ordered.

"Your choice," he smirked.

She went to shoot her gun but only got a click, as her gun was empty. Realizing she had no ammo she moved behind a tree just as he shot at her. The bullet missed but grazed the side of the tree she was hiding behind. Shadow growled and lunged for Predator as his back was turned. "Noo!" He tackled him to the ground making him lose his gun.

Shadow sat on top of him as he punched him in the face over and over again. Predator got a moment, and uppercut him with his fist making Shadow fall back. Amy reloaded her gun while the two fought. Predator got on top of him and began to punch Shadow in the face over and over again. He reached for his gun but Shadow reached for it too.

Predator grabbed the gun and punched the side of it into Shadow's face, making his nose bleed. "Augh!" While Shadow's head was turned to the side he saw an empty sharp shell casing. Predator used the gun and forced it against Shadow's neck to strangle him.

Amy came charging back with her gun loaded. "Get the hell off of him!" she screamed. Predator punched her hard in the gut with the end of his gun making her fall on her side. He had winded her as well. While his attention was turned away, Shadow quickly grabbed the shell casing, and stabbed it into the side of his neck. Predator choked out a gasp, as blood poured from his mouth. He fell on the floor and gasped his last breath.

Shadow panted and got up as he grunted. Amy was still on her side holding her hurt side. "Rose, are you okay?" he asked crawling towards her. He lifted her up so she was sitting in his between his legs. He held her as they sat under a tree as it continued to rain.

She felt a blush creep up on her face as he held her. She quickly looked away. "Yeah, are you?"

"No." He closed his eyes. "If my mother knew what I did…" his voice trailed off for a moment. "She raised me to be better-"

"—Shadow…" she cut off.

"All I do is hurt people. I'm a monster."

"Hey," she looked up at him. "You saved my life today. This is the second time you've done that. You may be a total ass half the time, but I need you. We all do," she spoke. "None of us would have survived if it wasn't for your leadership." Shadow looked at her sincerely. "You have to come back with me, Shadow. You have to face it."

"Like you faced your mom?" he quipped.

He got her there. "You're right. I don't want to face my mom, but I don't have a choice."

"Jaha will kill me when he comes down."

"We'll figure something out."

Shadow rested his head against the tree. "Can we figure it out later?" Thunder began to rumble.

Amy rested her head against his chest. "Yeah."

•~•

Back at camp, everyone was coming out of their stoned state and going back to normal. Tails was asleep on the floor hugging the stick as he slept by the fire. Rouge walked through camp and saw Mighty was up and moving. "Rough night?" he asked to her while rubbing his head.

"Yeah, trying to control all of you was a nightmare."

"I'm pretty sure I ate a pinecone," he said as he recalled back to his stoned phase.

Suddenly Drago came running out of the drop ship. "He's gone!" Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the wolf. "The grounder escaped!" The hundred got up and started looking around. They were afraid of where he could be.

"What if he brings other grounders back?" Mighty asked.

"He'll kill us all or worse," Sally said cutting in.

"Let the grounders come," a familiar voice said from behind the hundred. Everyone turned and saw Shadow and Amy enter camp together. "We've been afraid of them for too long." He held a blanket with something heavy inside. "I don't know about you but I'm tired of being afraid." Shadow and Amy both put down a set of blankets that contained a large amount of guns.

Everyone around camp looked impressed at the weaponry. "These are weapons, okay, not toys," Amy explained. "We have to be prepared to give them up to the guard when they come down. Until then, they're going to help keep us safe."

"There's plenty more where that came from," Shadow added. "Tomorrow we start training."

•~•

Later after everyone got settled in, Amy came out of the drop ship to look for Shadow. She spotted him over with Rouge. It appeared the two had made up with their disagreement. "Shadow." He turned looking over his shoulder. "It's time," she said.

Shadow and Amy sat in the drop ship in front of the monitor and wore headsets. Jaha was on the screen as he talked to the two. "Shadow, I've wanted to talk to you now for some time," he started.

"Before you do," Amy interrupted. "I'd like to say something. When you sent us down here, you sent us down to die, but miraculously most of are still alive." She looked to Shadow. "In large part that is because of him. Because of Shadow," she defended. "He's one of us and he deserves to be pardoned of his crimes."

"Amy, I appreciate your point of view, but its not that simple," Jaha stated.

"It is if you want to know who on the ark wants you dead," Shadow bartered.

The two watched as Jaha looked conflicted. He sat in silence thinking about his options before leaning in further towards the screen. "Shadow the hedgehog, you're pardoned for your crimes." Shadow smiled and blew out a sigh of relief. "Now, tell me who gave you the gun."

•~•

On the ark, Kane and his men marched down the corridors to find Antoine. They calmly surrounded the surprised coyote as he jotted notes down on his tablet. He looked at his fellow guards surround him. All the guards whipped out their taser batons in case he tried to escape. One guard came up from behind Antoine and put his hands behind his back handcuffing him.

Kane walked up to his commander and looked at him in disgust. "You're a disgrace."

"I'm fighting for what I believe in, just like you," he smirked.

"Take him away," Kane ordered. Two guards escorted Antoine down the hall towards the prison.

•~•

Back at camp, Amy visited Sonic in his tent. "I need to check this," she said while kneeling down by his side.

"Guns, really?" he asked while he lay on his back.

"We have to expect retaliation," she argued while peeling his bandages away.

"Yeah. Our ancestors wanted to be prepared, too. So they built bombs," he scoffed.

She placed a new bandage on him. "Rifles are not the same as nukes."

"In Shadow's hands, they are," he argued. "Ames, come on. You can't predict what he's going to do."

"There's no perfect answer, Sonic."

"The grounder saved Rouge's life, and Shadow brought him back here and tortured him."

"Yeah, but if he hadn't brought him back here, you'd be dead!"

"I know..."

"I trust him!"

He shook his head. "You can't be serious…"

She closed her eyes. "I am."

"You and Shadow are leading us down a dangerous road." He sat up slightly. "I wish you would've talked to me about it first."

"I wish you talked to me about a lot of things, but you didn't." The tent flap opened and Sally popped her head in. The two suddenly went quiet and Sally started to become suspicious. Amy didn't say another word and got up and left. Sally watched her leave the tent, and came inside sitting besides Sonic.

•~•

Inside a cell, Antoine paced back and fourth fearing for his life. He heard his cell door open and showed a sign of relief. "Thank god it's you. I thought I was about to float." Alicia and another guard stood in the doorway.

"It won't come to that, commander," she smiled darkly, as she stepped inside the cell. The guard came in and tasered him. When Antoine was knocked out from the shock. The guard took some broken glass, and slit his wrist then discarded the glass next to his hand so it would look like he committed suicide.

"Let's go," she said as they left.

•~•

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the long update. I've been busy getting settled in now that I live in CA. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Be sure to read and review. Also, yes, there will be more SonAmy moments later down the line. I promise.


	12. Unity Day

Sonic stood on the landing platform watching the groups of teens surround a monitor outside. Jaha was being broadcasted on the screen starting the annual Unity Day festival on the ark. Amy came up besides him and crossed her arms. "Don't tell me you don't like Unity day?" she smirked noticing his unimpressed gaze.

"Unity day is a lie. The ark only came together after the thirteenth station was blown out of the sky," he scoffed. "It's not the version of history we like to talk about though."

"The Unity day story gives people hope though, and peace came out of that violence," she retorted.

"Was violence needed in the first place?" he responded.

Amy stayed silent and glanced over to Sally. Sally was standing in the crowd of teens watching Jaha give his opening speech for Unity Day. Sally looked away from the screen and her eyes locked with Amy's. Sonic noticed the two staring each other down uncomfortably, feeling the tension rise. Amy walked away leaving Sonic standing on the platform, while Sally shook her head and looked back to the monitor.

Mighty came out of a tent with a large metal container in hand. "Got the alcohol ready!" Teens cheered as Mighty came over and started distributing the alcohol to everyone. "Happy Unity day!"

Sonic stayed back and watched as two teens standing post by the front gate walked over to get a cup of alcohol. "Hey save me some!" one of the guards said. Sonic also noticed Rouge discreetly make her way over to the gate and slip out unnoticed. He furrowed his brows as he watched the white bat leave. He figured he knew exactly where she was headed.

•~•

Back on the ark, Jaha stood at a podium surrounded by civilians of the ark. "To our sons and daughters on Mobius listening to this message, we will see you. The first exodus ship will launch in under 60 hours, carrying in the reinforcements that you need, so stay strong."

Abby was standing in the back listening to Jaha. When he finished his speech everyone clapped including Abby. Alicia came up next to Abby and crossed her arms over her chest. She gave a confident yet entitled smile her way. "Hello, Abby."

"Alicia," Abby responded.

Jaha started to continue the next part of his speech. "We have seen the true soul of our people-"

Alicia looked over to Abby. "I hope there are no hard feelings about me taking the council seat."

Abby knew Alicia was just trying to get a rise out of her for taking her seat, but she kept on a smile. "No hard feelings about anything at all today," she replied.

"That's right. You'll be able to see your daughter soon."

"-But enough from me," Jaha said cutting attention away from the two females. "You are all here for the pageant anyway, right?" Everyone in the crowd laughed at his comment and smiled.

Alicia looked down at her wristwatch and frowned. "He's cutting his remarks short."

Abby looked over to her confused by her statement. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. I just helped him with his speech," she explained. "He's leaving the best part out." Alicia looked back before walking out. Abby was confused slightly but went back to watching the "Unity Day" presentation.

"-Without further ado, I present the story of us," Jaha declared. People clapped and Jaha stepped down from his podium and walked through the crowd to get a better spot to watch. A group of young children stood in the center with different flags for the unities.

A little girl stood in the center of the room while ten other children circled around her with flags. Subtle patriotic music played as the little girl presented the story. "Long ago when the planet was on fire, twelve stations floated through space all alone. Then one day they realized life would be better together. The other stations saw this, and they wanted to be together, too. When all the stations were joined, they called themselves-"

Before she could finish her line an explosion erupted behind the children. People screamed from the unexpected blast and the room turned to darkness, as smoke and dust clouded the room.

•~•

When the dust started to come clear, Abby sat up from the floor and looked around. There were bodies all over the floor. Some people had metal bits sticking out of their chest. Others had debris on top of them. Children, adults, women, and men were sprawled out dead along the floor while loved ones cried over their loss. Jaha covered in dust, walked over to Abby and helped her up. "Are you okay?"

Abby looked herself over and realized she only had a few cuts. "Yeah…"

Everyone was covered in blood, or dust. Abby looked over her chancellor to make sure he was okay. He had some blood trickling down his head but other than that he was fine. Jaha looked over to Kane that was knelt down by a dead child. "Kane." Kane looked over to his chancellor. "Find out who did this!" Jaha ordered.

Kane walked over and grabbed Jaha. "We need to get you out of here," he whispered. "This was a coup…councilor Cole, Kaplan, and Muir, and Fuji are dead! If you hadn't cut your speech short-"

Jaha looked around the room. "Where's councilor Alicia?"

Abby was busy tending to a patient when she overheard him. "She left before the blast."

He narrowed his eyes. "I'll find her," Kane said before walking out.

Jaha grabbed his arm stopping him. "And double the guard at the drop ship," he ordered. "I'm putting the ark on lockdown!"

•~•

Boomer, a large walrus dressed in guard wear, ran down a hall. He turned a corner that was secluded where Alicia and Miles waited. "They think it was you!" He bent over catching his breath. "The way I see it, we got one choice but to stay and fight."

"No, we're going to take the Exodus ship now," Alicia said cutting in.

"It's not ready, though," Miles mentioned.

"Can our engineers get it ready?" she asked.

"To charge the batteries on a ship that size without causing a disruption to the ark takes time," Miles explained.

"Then cause disruptions," she replied.

"It'll get cold. With the lockdown, even if they find a way to isolate the lesser populated stations, people will die," he warned.

"So, there are casualties either way." She sighed and closed her eyes thinking through her options. "Take the Exodus ship," she responded. She walked off. "We should've built a bigger bomb," she muttered under her breath.

•~•

Back on Mobius, it had gotten dark again, and the teens were enjoying Unity day from the ground with drinking and games. Amy walked over to Shadow watching everyone have fun as he ate an apple.

"Hey, the comms are still dead," she said coming up to him. "They cut out during the pageant."

He took a drink of his alcohol. "Best unity day ever," he said dryly.

She laughed lightly at his comment. Ever since her day trip with Shadow she had grown closer to him. The two had come to a mutual understanding and were no longer clashing heads. "Do you really think now is a good time to be partying?" Amy asked honestly, while looking out to the drunken crowd. "The grounder is still out there."

"Grounders," he corrected. "By now, he's made it home. He's probably putting together a lynch mob." Amy face went from a smile to a troubled one. Shadow put a hand on her shoulder. "Relax. I got security covered."

Amy nodded. "Okay."

Shadow looked over to Mighty pouring out more drinks. "Why don't you go get a drink? You look like you could use one," he smiled.

She smiled back. "I could use more than just one," she joked.

"Then have more," he encouraged. Amy laughed lightly. "Rose, the Exodus ship carrying your mother comes down in two days. After that, the party's over." He patted her back. "Have some fun while you still can. You deserve it."

"You know what, you're right," she smiled. She started to walk off but looked over her shoulder. "But you deserve it, too," she added.

He watched her disappear into the crowd. "I'll have my fun when the grounders come," he said under his breath.

•~•

Sally was inside her tent working on making bullets. The flap to her tent opened and Sonic popped inside. "Making bullets on Unity day?" he said from behind her.

She didn't bother looking at him and kept working. "The grounders don't know it's Unity day."

"How did Shadow get you to help?" he inquired curiously. He knew she wasn't fond of him.

"I volunteered. We have to be ready to fight, right?" she said finally looking at him.

"Or we could try talking to them…" he countered.

"They seem to prefer stabbing," she retorted. "Violence is the only thing those people understand."

"You know, they could say the same thing about us," he riposted. He reached out and grabbed a belt of bullets. "If we keep going on this way, we'll never stop digging graves."

She looked up at him. "You didn't see him, Sonic. It didn't matter what we did to him. He was ready to let you die," she argued.

Sonic shook his head in disagreement. "He was protecting himself."

She glared at him. "Why are you defending him?"

"Never mind." He shook his head in disappointment. "I hope you know what you're doing." With that said he left the tent.

Sally watched him leave before turning back to finish her work. "I know what I'm doing," she said to herself.

•~•

Out in the forest, Rouge followed a trail that Knuckles had left her. She stumbled across a white-bloomed orchid left in a tree. She picked it up and admired the beauty of it. Eventually she found more and more of them, the closer she got to Knuckle's cave. She found the entrance and ducked down inside. When she came in, she saw Knuckles finger painting along the cave walls.

Rouge pulled out a dagger from around her waist and crept up on him with her knife wielded. Before she could attack him, Knuckles spun around grabbing her wrist with the knife above her head, and used his other hand to wrap around her waist. Rouge smirked up at him. "Better?"

Knuckles looked down and noticed she had her other hand holding a knife under his chin. He smirked. "I'll make a warrior out of you." He leaned down and kissed her on the lips. Rouge kissed back and smiled.

Knuckles helped take her jacket off and she took off his cloak and armor. Knuckles lifted her up and laid her down on a soft fur pelt. Rouge stared up at him romantically while Knuckles hovered over her. He gently kissed down her neck as the two started their intimate moment together.

•~•

Later, Knuckles helped Rouge out from the cave. When he turned around he heard a branch crack and immediately pulled out a knife from his side. Sonic was standing by a tree and raised his hands up in surrender. "Sonic?" Rouge exclaimed in surprise.

Knuckles started making his way towards the hedgehog with his knife wielded. "Knuckles, wait!" She stood between the two to keep them apart. "He's my friend," she pleaded.

"Look, buddy. I'm not here to hurt you. Just to talk," Sonic said calmly.

Sonic, Rouge, and Knuckles entered the cave. "What the hell are you doing here, Sonic?" she asked.

Sonic walked around the cave exploring. "I could ask you the same thing," he quipped. "I could also ask how long you've known he speaks English, but I won't." Sonic walked over to a table with a horn trumpet lying on top. He picked it up and held it for the grounder to see. "You blew this when your people were hunting us." Knuckles nodded slowly to answer him. "You saved our lives," he said gratefully. "I have to believe there's more like you."

Knuckles slowly approached Sonic. "I stabbed you…"

"-And we tortured you. If the two of us can get along, then maybe there's hope. Learn from history instead of repeating it, right?"

Rouge crossed her arms. "How's that going to happen?"

"For starters, no more killing."

"I don't have the power to call a truce," Knuckles responded.

"Then bring me to someone who does," Sonic replied. Knuckles scoffed at his ridiculous idea. "Hey, look. The rest of our people are coming down here, and the first ship lands in two days."

Rouge looked to Knuckles. "It's true," she confirmed.

"And because of the attacks," Sonic continued. "They're sending mostly soldiers- the people that enforce our laws. The ark is about survival at any cost, and they'll kill people who fall out of line," he argued. "When those people get down here, if they feel threatened, they will start a war. Knuckles and Rouge exchanged looks in silence. "We both know we don't want that," he finished.

Knuckles stuck out his hand for him to shake. "All right." Sonic shook his hand firmly. "You bring your leader, I'll bring mine."

"You mean Shadow? He'll never go for this," Rouge said shaking her head.

"No," Knuckles replied. "Not your brother."

Sonic realized exactly whom he meant. "…Amy."

•~•

Back on the ark, Kane and his guards patrolled the Exodus drop ship to make sure no one was hiding on it. A guard approached Kane. "Sir, it's clear. We did a full sweep."

"Good," he replied.

Abby stood off to the side as Kane approached her. "I should be in medical, not packing first – aid supplies."

"The injured have been taken care of, and we can do nothing for the dead," he replied sadly.

Alicia came running into the Exodus ship. "This launch should be delayed!" She ran up to Kane and Abby. "At least until the terrorist is interrogated that set that bomb off."

Abby looked at Alicia skeptically. "What makes you think it was a bomb? We're determining it to be a malfunction…"

Alicia stayed quiet realizing she had revealed too much knowledge. Kane stared at her with intrigue. "Where have you been, Alicia? Why did you leave the pageant early?"

She tried to play it off cool. "Well, thank god I did, or I'd be dead right now. I guess we're both lucky," she smiled.

"Stay where we can find you," he ordered.

"Where am I going to go, Kane?" she asked innocently. Kane didn't respond and left the Exodus ship to do more interrogation of suspects.

•~•

Amy was drinking with some of the other teens when Sonic came up behind her. He tapped her on the shoulder. "What?" she said looking back. She didn't expect to see the blue hedgehog there. Her ears lowered. "Oh."

He grabbed her hand and led her away. "Let's take a walk."

She reluctantly followed him before pulling her hand away from him. "What is going on?"

"I need you to come with me, but I can't tell you why, okay?"

She put her hands on her hips. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me why."

He sighed in defeat. "Fine, I set up a meeting with the grounders."

She gave him a bewildered look. "A meeting? I don't understand. With whom, how?"

"I was just with the grounder that we had in the drop ship," he explained. "His name is Knuckles."

"Whoa, wait a second," she stopped him. "He spoke to you?"

He nodded. "If we want to live in peace-"

"-Sonic, we can't live in peace with people who've done nothing but kill us," she retorted.

He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Can you think of a better way to stop the bloodshed?"

"Yeah. With guns," she countered.

Sonic narrowed his eyes at her. "You really want a war? Because at this rate, that's what's coming." Amy remained in silence realizing he was making some valid points. "I trust him."

"I don't…" She looked at the disappointment on his face and sighed. "But, if we go, we have to bring backup."

"No way. We're not bringing guns. Those weren't the terms, and if we're going to do this, we have to give it a fair shot."

"Okay," she sighed. "I'll get my stuff and we'll meet at the gate."

Sonic watched as she walked off into the rowdy crowd. He hated the tension between them and wished he could fix their problems. Amy walked over to Shadow walking alone. She came up by his side. "Hey, Shadow, I need to talk to you."

"Having fun yet, princess?" he smirked.

"Shadow, I'm serious."

He chuckled. "You always are, so talk."

"Sonic set up a meeting with the grounders. I'm leaving to go talk to them now."

His smirk turned into a frown. "Have you lost your damn mind?" he said quietly.

"I think it might be worth a shot," she whispered. "I mean we do have to live with these people."

"They'll probably kill you, you know," he said crossing his arms.

"Well, that's why I came to you," she admitted. "I need you to follow us to be backup."

He raised a brow. "Does faker know about this?"

"He doesn't need to know."

Shadow nodded confidently. "I've got your back."

•~•

Shadow popped into the tent that Sally was in. She was still busy working on creating bullets. He stuck out his hand in front of her face. "Give me some bullets that work," he demanded.

She looked away from her work. "Well, hello to you, too…"

"Just give me some bullets," he said with patience growing thin.

"What do you need them for?" she asked interestedly.

"Your boyfriend's being an idiot," he replied.

She handed him three packets of bullets and stood up. Knowing her boyfriend as well as she did, she knew he was in trouble. "I'm coming with you."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine." Shadow left the tent with a gun and the bullets. As he exited the tent he spotted Mighty nearby. He grabbed him by the shoulder. "You, you're coming with us."

Mighty was confused at first. "Uh, sure, where we going?" he asked slightly intoxicated.

"I'll explain on the way," he replied.

•~•

"I'd love it if you were right about this," Amy said, as she and Sonic walked together in the woods. "You ever consider this could be a trap?" she questioned.

"Yeah, but since it's Unity day, I decided to be optimistic."

"You're putting a lot of faith in a guy that stuck a knife in you," she replied.

"And you're sounding more and more like Shadow by the day…"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm just trying to keep us alive."

"So, am I." He kept walking as he led the way.

Amy looked over her shoulder behind her. She couldn't see them, but she knew Shadow and a few of the others would be tailing them. "Come on, Ames," Sonic called. Shadow, Mighty, and Sally watched the two from a far as they tailed them.

•~•

Miles sat in a prison cell with his hands tied behind his back. He had come forward and admitted he was responsible for the bomb. The door to his cell opened and Kane and Boomer, and another guard walked in.

"You were seen planting the bomb, Miles," Kane stated as he walked over in front of him. Miles barely lifted his head to look up at the hedgehog. "You killed six people…"

"Should have been seven," he snickered. "Jaha's lucky he cut his speech short."

"Why did you do this?" he asked.

"Workers all over the ark are tired of getting screwed. It's our kids you sent to Mobius to die. And who's on the first drop ship? Not us…" he explained. "Over and over, Jaha and the rest of you on the council betray our trust." He smirked up at him. "Today is your reckoning."

Kane glared down at him. "Tell me…who helped you?" Miles remained silence as he stared up at him. "I know you didn't act alone."

"Perhaps, but you still think this is just about the chancellor."

Boomer standing besides the other guard pulled out his taser stick and tasered the other guard. "Unh!" Miles used this opportunity to kick Kane back making him fall. Boomer helped undo Mile's shackles and the two escaped locking Kane and his guard inside the cell.

Kane got up to his feet as fast as he could and tried to smash his shoulder against the door. "Hey!" The lights in the cell flickered off and on until they completely shut off. "Shit..."

•~•

Jaha and a few of his men walked down the corridor as the lights in the halls flickered and alarms blared. "What's happening?" he asked Jackson running towards him.

"I'm not sure, sir," Jackson said catching his breath. "But we've lost power to multiple stations—farm, hydra, mecha," he listed looking at his computer tablet. Jackson and Jaha walked together down the hall. "Now we can vent in breathable air, but the temperature in those sections are falling fast," he explained. "People are going to freeze to death."

Jaha kept a confident stride as he thought through his options. "Lift the lockdown and evacuate those stations."

"Yes, sir." He began to tap away on his tablet as they turned a corner.

"Where's Kane?" Jaha asked, as the lights continued to flicker.

"He's interrogating the bomber." Jackson flipped through some data on his tablet then stopped. "Sir, power is out in prison station," he whispered.

Jaha's eye's widened. "Shit…"

Inside the cell, Kane sat against one of the walls while he shivered. It had gotten cold progressively fast. He could already see his breath as he tried to keep himself warm. The door to his cell opened and Jaha shined a flashlight in on the dark cell. "Marcus?"

"Sir," he said standing up. "It's a mutiny! Alicia is diverting power," he explained.

Jaha narrowed his eyes as he realized what was going on. "She's taking the Exodus ship…"

•~•

In the Exodus ship, Abby was busy organizing medical supplies near the back. Suddenly a group of new guards came in and wiped out the ones standing guard. Each one falling to the ground as they were tasered unexpectedly. The people working on stocking supplies gasped in surprise. "Whoa, whoa!"

"What the hell are you doing?" one of the guards yelled to the opposing ones.

Alicia's guards turned and faced one of Jaha's men. "This is our ship now." Abby watched from behind some pipes as the Exodus ship was taken over.

"Chancellor on deck," Boomer announced to the other guards. Abby quietly watched as Alicia appeared inside.

"How many of our people are on board," she asked.

"Less than 50%, ma'am," Boomer explained. "They're all upstairs on the passenger deck."

"Tell me about the cargo," she inquired.

"Nearly all here," the walrus replied.

Her eyes wandered around. "Search all the decks. Throw anyone not loyal to us out of the service hatches and back into the ark." She looked back to Boomer. "Lieutenant, you may give the order."

He nodded before looking to the other guards. "Seal the doors, begin the launch protocol. We're T-minus five and counting." Abby stayed back and tried to think up of a plan before she was found.

•~•

It was dawn now, and Rouge waited on an old moss covered bridge. Sonic and Amy came out of some brush, and Amy was surprised the see the bat there. She looked to Sonic. "So, that's how you set this up..." She looked back to Rouge. "You helped him escape, didn't you?"

"I trust him, Amy," she defended.

"I noticed a lot of that going around," she said looking at both of them.

They heard some rustling from the other end of the bridge. "Someone's coming," Sonic said. Knuckles came running down the bridge alone. Rouge smiled when she saw him. While Sonic and Rouge were looking at the other end of the bridge, Amy discreetly looked over her shoulder and spotted Shadow, Mighty and Sally hidden behind some trees near the lower part of the bridge.

Mighty spotted Rouge on the bridge. "What's Rouge doing here?" he whispered. Shadow became alert when he realized his sister was there. He narrowed his eyes as he watched Knuckles and Rouge embrace. "Oh…" Mighty said realizing why. Suddenly he felt awkward standing next to Shadow fuming over the sight of the two.

Sally chuckled over Shadow's brooding. "Guess we know how he got away."

Knuckles looked over Rouge's shoulder and stared hard at Amy. Amy felt slightly intimidated by the grounder's gaze and backed up. Sonic grabbed her hand giving it a squeeze for reassurance. "Don't worry," he whispered.

Sally watched as her boyfriend held Amy's hand and grew wary. "Your boyfriend looks like he's getting cozy with the princess," Shadow whispered with a smirk.

"Shut up," she whispered back while looking away. Mighty sat in between the two awkwardly.

Suddenly at the other end of the bridge, a group of echidnas appeared on horseback. They trotted up to the other end and waited. An older female red echidna appeared in the center on horseback. She wore similar armor to Knuckles made from black leather and bones.

Sonic looked to Knuckles. "We said no weapons!" he said in a hushed voice noticing the echidnas with swords, and bow and arrows.

Knuckles turned around in disappointment when he saw his people. "I was told there wouldn't be…"

"Well, it's too late now," Amy replied.

Sonic looked to Amy and gave her a nod. The two started to walk to the center hand in hand but Knuckles intervened. "She goes alone," he said putting a hand on Sonic's chest.

Amy pulled her hand away from him. "I'll be fine."

"—Ames."

"Don't worry," she assured him.

Amy walked to the center of the bridge as the red echidna dismounted her horse and approached Amy. As she got closer, Amy noticed she had pink hair, and her red dreads were laced with ribbon. She looked very beautiful but powerful as she strode towards her. It was like an old western show down as the two females came to the dead center. Both staring each other down and eyeing up their competition. The two finally met and stood before one another. "Your name is Amy?" the echidna asked sternly.

Amy nodded. "Yes."

"I'm Lien-Da," she replied with a stoic expression.

"I think we got off to a rough start, but we want to find a way to live together in peace," she started.

Lien-Da stared hard back at Amy showing no intimidation. "I understand. You started a war that you don't know how to end, am I right?"

Amy became confused. "What? No. We didn't start anything. You attacked us for no reason," she accused.

"No reason?" she barked in amusement. "The missiles you launched burned a village to the ground."

Amy had no idea what she was talking about. But then she realized what she meant. "The flares? No. That was a signal meant for our families," she explained. "We had no idea-"

"-You're invaders," she interrupted. "Your ship landed in our territory."

"We didn't know anyone was here. We thought the ground was unhabituated."

"You knew we were here when you sent an armed raiding party to capture one of us and torture him," she pointed out. Amy remained quiet knowing she was right. "These are all acts of war," she countered.

Amy sighed. "I see your point. That's why we need to put an end to all of this."

•~•

Back on the Exodus ship on the ark, Jaha, Kane, Jackson and the rest of the guard stood behind a sealed tight door. Through the glass they could see inside of the Exodus ship that was still attached to the ark.

"I told you. It happened very fast. I'm not even sure Dr. Rose was inside at the time," Jaha's advisor explained after being thrown out.

Jackson came up next to Jaha. "Sir, the Exodus ship is fully charged, and they've begun their launch protocol."

"It won't launch when the door's open, is that correct?" the chancellor asked.

"Correct."

"Then get the damn door open," he ordered.

"We can't sir, it's already pressurized, and we can only open it from the inside," Jackson explained.

"Keep trying!" he barked.

Kane looked to Jackson. "How long till launch?"

"Two minutes."

Jaha growled. "Alicia, open the door," he shouted through the glass. Alicia ignored Jaha's orders and looked to Boomer. "We should be ready to launch momentarily," he explained.

"Upper levels clear?" she asked.

"Yes," the walrus replied.

"Okay, assume flight positions," she directed.

Abby was still hiding behind some pipes when Miles came up from behind her. "Hey! What are you doing?" he growled while grabbing her. Abby gasped as she was dragged out from her hiding position.

Jaha continued to watch through the glass and was shocked when he saw Miles dragging Abby out into view. "Abby?"

"Alicia, don't do this," she begged.

Alicia turned to her. "Already done."

"Let's throw her out," Miles hissed.

"No. We could use a doctor on the ground," Alicia smirked. She stepped forward towards the pink hedgehog. "Come with us, you owe Jaha no loyalty. He's killed your husband and betrayed you." She put a hand on her shoulder. "You're just like us… Think of your daughter, Abby."

Abby stared at Alicia in the eyes. "I'm nothing like you…" She quickly pushed her aside and ran for the open hatch near the locked doors.

Alicia fell to the ground. "Get her!" she pointed.

Abby pulled down on the hatch unlocking the doors. Boomer was able to stop her by tasering her with his stick. Abby fell to the ground unconscious.

"Abby!" Jaha cried in terror.

Boomer quickly forced the hatch back up locking the door. Two guards walked over and picked up Abby carrying her further into the ship. Meanwhile, Jaha, Kane his guards managed to crack open the doors slightly. Alicia's guards tried to force the crack shut, but Kane had a pry-bar shoved in-between the doors.

•~•

Back on Mobius, Amy and Lien-Da continued to come to an agreement. "Knuckles said more of you are coming down," Lien-Da spoke.

"Yes, the guard, but also farmers, doctors, engineers," she added.

"Can you promise that these new arrivals won't attack us- that they'll respect the terms you and I agree on?" Lien-Da inquired.

"I promise I will do everything I can to convince them to honor the terms we set."

"Why would I agree to an alliance that your people can break the moment they get here?" she argued.

Shadow, Mighty and Sally continued to cautiously watch the meeting go down. They couldn't hear the conversation clearly but could read the body language. "Grounder princess looks pissed," Sally observed.

"Our princess has that effect," Shadow retorted with a chuckle.

"If you fire the first shot, those people coming down won't bother negotiating. Our technology will wipe you out," Amy warned.

Lien-Da smirked. "They wouldn't be the first to try."

Mighty spotted something in the distance and looked down the riflescope of his gun. Through the scope he could see two grounders armed with bow and arrows and spears aimed at Amy. "Oh, no…"

"What?" Shadow whispered.

"There's grounders in the trees," he whispered.

"What?" Sally gasped.

Shadow held up his gun and looked through his riflescope. "Where?" he said looking everywhere.

Shadow and Sally tried looking around but couldn't see them. Mighty could see through his, that the two grounders in the trees were signaling each other to shoot at Amy. "They're going to shoot…" He looked away from his gun. "Amy, run!" he shouted revealing his position.

Both Amy and Lien-Da looked over when they heard Mighty's warning. Mighty came out from the trees and started shooting at the trees. "Run!" he pleaded. He successfully hit one of the grounders and he fell from the tree dead.

Lien-Da pulled a dagger from underneath her glove and was about to strike Amy but was hit in the shoulder by a bullet. She staggered back before retreating. Amy looked back and saw Shadow had shot her before she could be touched. "Rose, get out of there!" he shouted.

The other grounder in the tree threw a spear that just missed Amy when she jumped back. Sonic came running towards her to get her out of harms way. "Amy!"

Mighty aimed his gun and was able to hit the second grounder in the tree and kill him. Arrows were flying towards Amy as she lay on her side. "Sonic, get back!" she warned avoiding the arrows.

Sonic ignored her pleas and helped her to her feet getting her out of there as fast as possible.

Lien-Da had managed to get back to her horse and started to leave, while the rest of her soldiers continued to shoot arrows at Amy and Sonic. Once everyone was safely back at the other end of the bridge, Knuckles told them what to do. "Get back behind your walls!" He pushed Rouge away from him. "Take her!"

"Knuckles, no!" she cried. Amy grabbed Rouge and pulled her with her.

"Go!" he yelled. He watched as the group of teens fled the scene before running after his leader.

•~•

On the ark, the guards were still trying to fight to gain control over the Exodus ship. "We've almost got it!" Kane shouted over the mayhem. They were still trying to pry the doors open.

Jaha remained at the front staring through the window. "Where's Abby? Send her through!" he ordered.

"I will if you let the doors close," Alicia promised from the other side.

"Never," he replied sternly.

"Too bad, then." She turned around. "Launch!" she ordered. Alarms began to blare and the pry bar in between the two doors was shoved out from the other side. Jaha, Kane and everyone else backed away.

"We need to get out of here, sir," Kane encouraged.

Jaha stared in through the glass as everyone inside the Exodus ship rushed around taking their seats. Kane put a hand behind the chancellor and ushered him away. "We need to go!"

Outside in space, the Exodus ship broke away from the ark taking more of the ark's power source with them. The ark's bright lights dimmed and it became dark.

•~•

Everyone continued to run until they got to the walls of their camp. The group tried to catch their breath. Shadow looked over to Sonic. "You got something to say, faker?"

"Yeah, I told you no guns!" he shouted while trying to catch his breath.

"I told you we couldn't trust the grounders," Amy yelled back as she panted. "I was right."

Sally put a hand on her hip. "Yeah, and why didn't you tell me what you were up to," she shouted at Sonic.

"I tried, but you were too busy making bullets!" he yelled back.

"You're lucky she made them!" Shadow said cutting in. "They came there to kill you, Sonic."

"You don't know that. Mighty fired the first shot!" he said pointing to the armadillo.

Rouge glared at Mighty. "You ruined everything."

He narrowed his eyes. "I saved you!" Rouge walked away not bothering to respond as she re-entered camp. Mighty scoffed. "You're welcome…"

"Well, if we weren't at war already, we are now," Sonic said irate. "You didn't have to trust the grounders. You just had to trust me," he said staring at Amy.

Sonic stormed off and Sally followed after him. Shadow and Amy watched as they retreated back into the camp. "Like I said, best Unity day ever," Shadow spoke facetiously. A loud booming explosion startled them, and they looked up to the sky. A bright white light zoomed across the night sky. "The Exodus ship?" Shadow theorized.

Amy smiled as they watched it come into atmosphere. "My mom's coming down early…" As it got closer into view Amy's smiled disappeared. "Wait. Too fast - no parachute? Something's wrong…" The ship crashed into the side of a mountain in the distance creating a huge explosion. Amy watched in horror and dropped down to her knees. "No…"

Shadow bent down besides her. "Rose, I'm so sorry."


	13. Sickness

Amy and Shadow went to the location where the Exodus ship had crashed landed. The two had gathered some teens to help them look for any survivors. As they walked along the rubble, they saw the forest that the Exodus ship had burnt around its crash site. Metal scraps littered across the ground along with smoke rising off the ashes. Shadow walked around his with rifle in hand as he looked for any survivors. He came across a burnt skeleton remain and stared down at it sadly.

Sonic and Sally were at another end of the crash site looking for any supplies they could gather. Sonic watched Amy from a far. "Amy shouldn't be out here..."

"Her mom was on the ship," Sally replied. "She's looking for answers. You want to help her? Find me the black box, hard drives, anything that will explain why this ship crashed."

Shadow made his way over towards Amy. He looked to a group of his guys going through scrap metal. "Stay sharp. Grounder retaliation for what happened on the bridge is coming, just a matter of when."

"Can you blame them?" Sonic snapped, as he glared at Shadow from behind.

"No." He looked his way. "I blame you."

Sonic crossed his arms. "Maybe if you didn't bring guns—"

"-If we didn't bring guns, we all would've been killed," Sally intervened.

"Why they're coming doesn't matter anymore. It's our job to be ready when they do," Shadow said. "We're on our own now."

Amy came over near an engine jet with red liquid dripping out of it. She covered her nose from the stench as she got near. "Eww."

Sally looked over and her eyes widened. "Amy, stop!" she yelled running towards her.

"Rocket fuel?" Amy questioned as the squirrel rushed over.

"Hydrazine…highly unstable in its non solid form," she explained. "If this stuff meets fire, we're all pink mist." She looked towards Shadow and Sonic that came up behind. "We need to clear the area."

"Right." The rest of Shadow's men came over towards him. "We move in formation, no straggling. We need to get back before dark." The teens nodded and they started making their way back.

•~•

Later that night, Mighty, Tails, Jet, and Bark kept watch over camp. They had their weapons ready as they peered out into the darkness. Night had fallen and it had been very quiet around camp. Rouge came over and peered out of one of the holes through the fence.

"Still no sign of your brother or the others yet," Tails said.

"I don't care…" Her eyes caught sight of a white-bloomed orchid left on a tree in plain view on the other side of the fence. She smiled to herself realizing Knuckles must have left it for her.

A bush rustling outside the fence made the three male guards alert. "What was that?" Bark said.

"Something moved," Jet replied.

Mighty looked through his riflescope trying to find the source of the movement. He saw something and took two shots at it. "I think I got it."

The three boys left their post and headed outside with a torch to find out what it was. Rouge feared it being Knuckles. She followed after them and pushed past the boys to get a look first. "Rouge, be careful," Mighty warned.

Rouge saw a body lying on its side behind a tree. She sighed in relief when she realized it wasn't Knuckles, but she didn't recognize the person. It was a male from what she could see. Rouge careful bent down to move him over, but just as her hand touched his shoulder he jolted up. Rouge and the others backed up quickly.

Jet shined his torch his way to get a better look. "Oh, my god…" The three boys and Rouge huddled around the stranger and discovered that it was Scourge! Scourge held his hands up in defense as he panted. He was covered in scratches and bruises with dried blood along his face.

"Scourge?" Rouge gasped.

•~•

A little later, the group got back from the scavenge hunt at the crash site. The group back at camp had Scourge held in the drop ship until Shadow returned. The ebony hedgehog walked into the drop ship along with Amy. "Where is he?" he asked to the guards on watch. He had been notified Scourge had returned.

A few boys stood in front of Scourge but moved out of the way when Shadow came in. Shadow looked down at Scourge sitting against one of the drop ship's walls. He stared at the disheveled state that he was in. It looked as if Scourge had been nearly beaten to death or tortured. Shadow looked around at the group of spectators in the room. "Everyone but Jet and Bark, out now." Amy and Sonic remained inside even though they were told to go. They stood behind Shadow and watched.

Jet came up to Shadow. "He claims he was with the grounders."

"We caught him trying to sneak back into camp," Bark explained.

Scourge rolled his eyes. "I wasn't sneaking. I was running from the grounders."

"Anyone see grounders?" Shadow asked suspiciously. The two boys shook their head. Shadow lifted his gun and pointed it at Scourge. "Well, in that case."

Sonic put a hand out and lowered the tip of his rifle. "Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?" he snapped.

"We were clear what would happen if he came back, faker," he barked. He lifted his gun back up and pointed it at Scourge.

Sonic stood in front of Scourge defensively. "No. If he was with the grounders, then he knows things that can help us," he countered. Amy watched silently from the sidelines as the two males argued.

"Help us? We hanged him, banished him, and now we're going to kill him." He narrowed his eyes at Sonic. "Now, get the hell out of my way."

"Wait, Shadow," Amy spoke. Shadow lowered his gun and looked behind him. "Sonic is right."

Shadow couldn't believe she was agreeing with him. He watched as she brushed past him and knelt down in front of Scourge. "Like hell, he is. Rose, think about Cream."

She looked up at the ebony hedgehog. "I am thinking about her, but what happened to Cream was as much our fault as his," she argued. Amy looked over his injuries. He hissed as she grazed his cuts with her fingertips. "He's not lying. They tortured him."

"The grounders know we're at war." Shadow shot a glare at Scourge. "What did you tell them about us?"

"Everything," he replied calmly.

Amy stood up and approached Shadow. "Once he's better, we find out what he knows, then he's out of here, okay?"

"What if he refuses to leave?" Shadow questioned.

"Then we kill him," she said with a straight face. Sonic looked at Amy disappointed by her methods. He had hoped she had better morals.

•~•

Amy walked into one of the tents and saw Sally was working on the black box they had recovered. She wore a pair of headphones as she tinkered with the radio. "Oh, sorry, I didn't know anyone was in here," Amy apologized.

Sally took her headphones off her ears. "You okay?" she asked looking up from working.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Still nothing from the ark," Sally mentioned. "It's like they shut it down from their side. It could be solar flares blocking the signal," she theorized.

"But you don't think so?" she asked.

Sally shook her head. "I got a bad feeling…"

"There's a lot of that going around." Amy went to go to leave but Sally stopped her.

"Amy, wait." She stood up. "I'm sorry about your mom." Amy remained silent, but then Sally noticed something strange. Blood started to drip down from Amy's eyes. "Oh, my god, Amy, your eyes!"

Amy was confused at first and then touched her cheek. She felt what she thought were tears, but looked down at her fingers and saw blood.

"Amy!" someone shouted from outside the tent. "Where's Amy?" a male voice called. Amy left the tent find who was calling her.

Outside, Jet staggered through camp coughing up blood. "Amy?" he gasped.

"Jet?" she said finding him.

Jet looked up at Amy weakly. "It won't stop…" he said as his eyes bled as well.

Sally came out behind Amy and looked at Jet's sick state. "What's happening?" Suddenly multiple people began to cough around camp. Amy looked around as she listened. She looked over at the campfire and watched, as Bark began to cough blood into his hand.

This was serious. "Sally, get away from us."

"What?"

"They're the ones who brought Scourge in," she said.

•~•

In the drop ship, Scourge was on his hands in kneels as he threw up blood onto the floor. Amy came in just when she saw him puking blood. She knelt by his side. "Scourge, look at me," she ordered. "I need you to tell me exactly how you escaped from the grounders."

He tried to catch his breath. "I don't know. I woke up, and they forgot to lock my cage. There was no one there, so I took off," he explained.

She was suspicious. "They let you go…"

Shadow came into the drop ship and saw Amy and Scourge on the floor. Amy heard someone approaching and looked back. "Shadow, stay back," she warned.

He did as ordered and stayed several feet away from them. He saw the blood stains on her cheeks. "Did he do something to you?" She shook her head. "What the hell is this?"

"Biological warfare," she stated. "You were waiting for the grounders to retaliate for the bridge? This is it. Scourge was the weapon."

Shadow glared at him. "Is this your revenge? Helping the grounders kill us?" he interrogated.

Scourge sat and rested his back against one of the walls in the drop ship. "I didn't know about this, stripes, okay? I swear."

"Stop lying," he barked. "When are they coming?"

Amy used a damp cloth to wipe some of the dried blood from his face. "Scourge, think. What can you tell us that's useful?"

"They are vicious, cruel," he began.

"You want to see vicious?" Shadow interrupted.

Amy put her hand up stopping Shadow from getting closer. "Hey, don't. Whatever this thing is, it spreads through contact."

"Ames?" someone said from outside the drop ship. Sonic came running inside and looked frightened when he saw the dried blood under her eyes.

"Sonic, you shouldn't be in here," she warned. "No one should."

"I heard you were sick." He looked over at Jet, Bark, and a red lemur sitting in the other corner sick. "Amy, what is this?"

"I don't know, some kind of hemorrhagic fever," she deduced. "We just need to contain it before-" The red lemur began to convulse on his side as he seized. He coughed at the same time. Amy got up to go over and tend to him and Sonic touched her arm. "Hey, don't touch me. You could get sick," she yelled. Amy moved around him to get to the sick lemur.

"What the hell is happening to him?" Sonic said while he watched.

The lemur had blood flowing out of his open mouth. "I don't know," Amy responded. She patted his back trying to help clear the fluid. Suddenly he stopped breathing and Amy checked his pulse.

"…Is he?" Shadow questioned.

"He's dead…" she replied.

"What do we do?" Sonic asked.

"Quarantine. Round up everyone who had contact with Scourge. Bring them here," she instructed.

"And everyone _they_ had contact with?" Shadow asked.

"Well, we have to start somewhere." She looked over to Jet sitting up weakly by another wall. "Jet, who was with you when you found him?"

"The first one there was Rouge," he said weakly.

Shadow felt his heart drop. He ran out to go find her.

•~•

Rouge was lying in her tent flipping through Knuckle's notebook. She looked through the illustrations he had done and admired them. She stopped on an image he had drawn of a strange person in a hazmat mask. The tent flap opened and Shadow stormed in unannounced. Rouge quickly closed the book. "Jeez, you scared me."

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Fine. Get out," she said dismissively.

"You touch Scourge yesterday?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess so, why?"

"The grounders sent him here with a virus to infect us. Derek just died from it." Shadow looked at the book she held in her lap. "Another mark for your boyfriend's book," he remarked. "Now come on, Amy needs to examine you."

•~•

Amy held a cloth to her mouth to contain any airborne contact between her and those around her. Shadow stood in the drop ship with a cloth to his face as well. He watched as more and more people came in becoming sick with the infection. Almost everyone inside was coughing or crying blood. Amy finished doing the examination over Rouge. "Okay. We're done. No visible signs of swelling or bleeding."

Shadow lowered the cloth from his face. "So, you're saying she doesn't have it?"

"She doesn't have symptoms, at least not yet."

"Now what?" Rouge asked.

"I need to keep you here in case that changes."

"No way, she'll get sick just from being in here," Shadow argued.

"I'll keep her on the second level with the people who haven't shown signs yet. Besides, it'll keep her from sneaking off," Amy countered.

"Screw you, Amy," the white bat snapped.

Shadow nodded and agreed with her point. He walked out of the drop ship leaving Amy and Rouge alone. Amy turned to her. "Rouge, I need you to do something for me."

She crossed her arms and shot her a dirty look. "Why would I do anything for you?"

She sighed. "Because I need you to sneak out again…"

•~•

Rouge had successfully snuck out of camp and made it back to Knuckle's lair. She entered the cave calling out for him. "Knuckles?"

Knuckles came out from around the corner and looked her over. He held her face and looked at her eyes and felt her neck. Rouge realized Knuckles was examining her for the signs of the virus. "You knew…"

"I tried to get you out of there," he replied. "You didn't see the flower?"

"I saw it right before I found the kid your people sent to infect us." She stared up at him.  
>"People are dying, Knuckles. Amy sent me here for the cure."<p>

He shook his head and backed away. "There is no cure."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "So, you were just going to let my people die?" she said in disappointment. "You were going to let me die?"

"The sickness passes quickly," he cut in. "Few are immune. We use it to soften the battlefield." He cupped her face and smiled at her. "I am not surprised you are one of the strong ones."

"…Battlefield?" she repeated.

He swallowed hard. "They attack at first light."

"You have to help me save them…"

"I can't. I tried!" he defended. "My people think I'm a traitor now."

"Because of the bridge? You were just trying to make peace."

"It's not the bridge," he corrected.

Rouge blinked in surprise. "Because of me?" He nodded. "Oh…"

"That doesn't matter now. I'm leaving, Rouge, right now." He held her hands. "I want you to come with me."

"A-and go where?"

"East to the sea, then across it," he explained. "There's a clan- allies of the woods. They'll take us."

She closed her eyes. "I can't just let my brother get killed."

"There is nothing you can do to stop it," he explained.

"I can warn them," she mentioned.

"Rouge, they'll kill you…" He sighed. "If you're there at dawn-"

"-I won't be. Just wait for me here," she begged. "I'm coming with you."

She turned to leave but he grabbed her wrist gently. "Wait." He brought her into one more kiss.

•~•

Amy stood outside on the landing platform, as she watched two boys carry out another victim. A blue female fox was carried out and laid next to Derek, the other boy that had died. The virus how now claimed two victims.

Shadow stood far away enough from Amy. "You got enough food, and water in there?"

"Yeah, but some medicine might be nice."

He cracked a smile. "I'll see what I can do." Amy started to make her way back inside but Shadow wanted to see how Rouge was doing. "Rouge, you okay?" he shouted. Amy froze in place and looked over her shoulder at Shadow. When he got no response he became worried, and started walking towards the entrance.

"Shadow, wait. She's not here." Shadow stopped in his tracks and stared at her. "I sent her to see Knuckles," she admitted. Shadow remained in silence but his face showed anger. "Look, if there's a cure, he has it. I didn't tell you because I knew you wouldn't let her go."

"If anything happens to her, you and I are going to have problems," he growled as he walked off.

"Shadow…" she said weakly.

Shadow marched over to the gates but a black cat stood in his way. His back was facing Shadow and he was growing impatient. "Out of my way," he ordered.

The cat slowly turned around and had blood running from his eyes. Shadow backed away and the other teens near him did the same. "Nobody touch him!" The cat touched his cheek feeling the liquid. "Get to the drop ship, now," he demanded.

Sally was making her way through camp and saw a female yellow mongoose look like she was about to pass out. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked. Suddenly she collapsed and the teens around her went to catch her, but then she coughed up blood onto their faces.

"Augh!" the three boys cried out.

The teens around the mongoose rubbed the blood from their face. "Oh, my god, oh my god, it's on me!" Shadow watched as the teens that were not infected held up guns to those coming near them. "Stay back!"

Amy could see anarchy was occurring, as the healthy feared becoming infected. She knew she had to do something to calm the crowd. Shadow tried to calm a group of teens down aiming guns at one another. "Calm down!"

Sonic tried helping by stepping in the paths of aimed guns. "Put that gun down!" he ordered a female sparrow.

Two loud gunshots fired and everyone looked to the source of the sound. Amy had fired two shots to get everyone's attention. "This is exactly what the grounders want," she said weakly. She walked towards the center. "Don't you see that? They don't have to kill us, because we'll kill each other."

Drago aimed his gun towards Amy. "They won't have to kill us if we all catch the virus. Get back in the damn drop ship," he barked.

Shadow walked over grabbed the side of the gun and elbowed Drago hard in the face. The wolf fell to the ground. "Shut up!" He brought his attention back to Amy. "Your quarantine isn't working, Rose." Amy dropped her gun and her eyes lowered as she began to look extremely weak. "Rose?" Shadow repeatedly worriedly. She started to faint, but Sonic zipped over catching her before she could hit the ground.

"Sonic, don't touch her!" Sally warned.

Amy looked up at Sonic weakly. "Hey, let me go," she mumbled. "I'm okay."

He shook his head as he looked down at her in his arms. "No, you're not."

"Rouge will come back with a cure," Amy replied.

"-There is no cure," Rouge said from behind the group. Everyone turned and looked at the bat. "But the grounders don't use the sickness to kill," she explained.

"Really? Tell that to them," Shadow said pointing to the two dead teens. He approached Rouge. "I warned you about seeing that grounder again."

"Yeah, well, I have a warning for you, too," she spat. "The grounders are coming." All the teens began to gasp and become worried. "They're attacking at first light."

Rouge walked over to Sonic and Amy passing her irate brother. "Come on. Get Amy into the drop ship." Sonic nodded and he carried her back inside as Rouge followed. Sally watched sadly from the side, as Sonic put his life in danger by exposing himself to the virus.

Shadow turned to Sally. "How many bullets can you make by first light?"

"Plenty," she responded.

•~•

Sonic carried Amy over to a hammock in between two pillars. Amy rested her head against his chest. "What do I have to do to stop you from coming in here?" she said lowly.

He gently laid her down in the hammock. "Get better," he replied coolly.

"If he's not sick by now, then he's probably immune like me," Rouge explained to her.

Sonic looked down at Amy with concern. "What else did Knuckles tell you?" he asked quietly to Rouge.

"The virus doesn't last long."

"-It's true. I feel better," Scourge piped in as he overheard their conversation. The two looked over to Scourge sitting in the corner.

"They need to stay hydrated," Amy, said trying to sit up.

Sonic put a hand on her shoulder. "You need to stay hydrated," he corrected. Rouge brought over a cup of water and handed it to her. She took it from her and took a sip.

Rouge walked away to help tend to the others. Sonic stayed by Amy's side and held her hand. She looked up at him sadly. "You need to save yourself. Just leave camp and take anyone healthy enough with you."

"If you think that's even a possibility, you don't know me very well," he chuckled.

"I know you," she said quietly. Her eyes closed as she passed out.

Scourge came up by Sonic's side. "Look, at this rate, when the grounders get here, there won't be anyone left to fight back."

Rouge helped feed water to another sick person. "-That's the point."

Sonic's mind hit an idea. "Then we slow them down." He left the drop ship quickly.

•~•

Shadow and Sally, sat in a tent and loaded clips preparing their guns. Sonic popped inside. "What do we need to build a bomb?" he asked.

"Depends on what you're trying to blow up," Sally said.

"How about a bridge?" he grinned.

Shadow raised a brow at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Scourge said he crossed a bridge on his way back here from the grounders," Sonic explained. "Sound familiar?"

"Yeah, so what?" Shadow replied.

"So, the virus is fast. He's already getting better. Blowing the bridge won't stop the attack, but the longer we can delay it, the more of us will be able to fight."

"Even if Scourge is telling the truth—and that's a big if—that bridge has survived a nuclear war and 97 years of weather," Shadow spoke.

"It won't survive me," Sally smirked.

•~•

Sally returned to the crash site of the Exodus ship. She wore the astronaut suit she had when landing in the escape pod, and approached the jet engine. With a metal can in hand, she collected the dripping hydrazine. "Please don't let me blow up…"

•~•

Back at camp, night had finally fallen, and Sally had finished pouring the collected hydrazine into a mason jar. She screwed the jar shut and took off her suit once it was contained. "Okay, you can come in now," she said loudly.

Shadow and Sonic came inside the tent. Shadow stared at the pink liquid in awe as he approached the table containing the jar. "Boom!" Sally shouted behind him making him jump slightly. Sonic and Sally laughed at his flinch.

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Cute…"

"Relax, it needs an accelerant to explode- Gun powder," she said holding up a can of it. She took the Mason jar full of hydrazine and placed into an old coffee can. "Container of hydrazine." She took the gunpowder and demonstrated, by pretending to pour it around the Mason jar inside the coffee can. "Put the gun powder around the hydrazine." Then she took a metal lid and placed it on top of the coffee can. "Hit it, and it goes boom."

"It's the rest of our gunpowder," Shadow noted. "We won't be able to make anymore bullets."

"Tonight we need a bomb," Sonic replied. "We can worry about bullets later."

"If we do this and it doesn't work, we'll all be dead tomorrow," he quipped.

"Then let's make sure it works," Sally added. "You need to be at least 200 feet away to make the shot."

Shadow smirked. "No problem." He looked at both Sally and Sonic. "Which one of you plants the bomb?" It was quiet for a brief moment as the two hesitated.

"I will," Sonic said speaking up. Sally noted his hesitation.

Shadow chuckled. "You won't pick up a gun, but blowing up people you're okay with?"

"We're blowing up a bridge…There's not going to be any people on it."

"Faker, we have one bomb," he argued. "We need it to kill as many of those bastards as possible."

"But they don't know we only have one bomb," he countered. "If we did, why would we waste it on the bridge? I'm talking about deterrents, peace through strength."

"Men who built the A-bomb thought they were peacemakers, too," Shadow noted. "How'd that work out for them?"

Sonic looked at Shadow's face and fear struck him. Shadow noticed Sonic's frightened look and looked over to Sally. Blood dripped from his nose.

"Don't touch anything," she warned. Shadow touched the blood dripping from his nose and cursed. "Shit…"

"Who else can take a shot?" Sonic asked knowing Shadow wouldn't be able to.

"Appreciate the concern," Shadow said facetiously. "Make sure the bomb is packed and ready to go in ten minutes." With that said he left the tent.

•~•

Shadow staggered through camp like a zombie risen from the grave. The virus was striking hard and fast for him. He saw Mighty standing near the campfire with some other boys. "Mighty, come here."

Mighty jogged over. "Hey, you need me to go with you again?"

Shadow stuck his hand out stopping him from getting closer. "Stay back." Mighty saw the state Shadow was in and became worried. "I need you to take the shot."

"Yeah, sure, I can do that."

"If you miss and that bridge doesn't blow, we're all dead," he said quietly. "You got that?"

He scratched his head. "I get it, but why me?" Shadow remained quiet. Mighty's eyes widened with realization, "I'm the only one not sick, aren't I?"

"Yes. Please don't miss." Shadow turned but fell to the ground.

"Shadow!" Mighty exclaimed rushing over to help him.

Shadow weakly stuck his arm out. "No, don't. Just make the shot. Find Sonic and go."

•~•

In the drop ship, Rouge was keeping Amy hydrated by patting her face with a damp cloth. Amy was still passed out. She heard coughing and saw Shadow being carried in by two guys. "Shadow…" She got up. "Clear some space and lay him down," she instructed.

The two guys laid him down on a mat besides Amy. Shadow started choking on blood and Rouge flipped him on his side. She patted his back to help get the blood out of his lungs. Shadow gagged as the blood left his airway. Rouge stroked his face. "Hey, big brother." She wiped the blood away from around his mouth and he panted.

"I'm scared," he whispered.

Rouge stroked his forehead. "I won't let anything happen to you… I promise."

Shadow cracked a weak grin. "That's what I said to you the day you were born," he whispered back.

Rouge smiled. "I know. You told me that like, a thousand times."

He held her hand. "I'm glad you're here."

She smiled. "Just get some rest now, okay?"

•~•

Sonic and Mighty entered the tent that Sally had the bomb in. Tails was in there trying to get some sleep. He woke up when he heard the two enter. "Oh, hey guys."

Sonic looked over to the table and saw the bomb was gone. "It's gone…" He looked to Tails. "Hey, buddy, where's Sal?"

"She left awhile ago," he replied.

Sonic's eyes widened. "She's planting it herself," he said looking at Mighty. The two quickly left the tent.

•~•

In the forest, Sally ran with her backpack containing the bomb. She had a flashlight to guide her path. Suddenly she felt something dripping down her nose and touched it. It was blood. "Oh, no…"

•~•

A little later Shadow woke up and looked around. Amy approached him and knelt down by his side. He sat up and rubbed his bloody nose. "You feeling better?"

She handed him a cup of water. "Yeah."

"That's good," he replied before taking a drink. "You seen Rouge?"

"She was up all night helping people. Scourge gave her a break," she answered. Shadow looked over and saw Scourge helping tend to people. It looked very out of his character.

He scowled. "Don't tell me you trust him now, too…"

"Trust? No." She smiled slightly. "I do believe in second chances, though."

He looked at his watch. "It's almost dawn. If we get everyone inside and lock the door maybe the grounders will think we're dead."

She raised a brow. "Not everyone is sick."

"Sick is better than dead," he replied.

She blinked in surprise. "You don't think Sonic and Mighty can pull it off…"

"Do you?"

She stayed quiet for a moment. "I'll get everyone inside..."

•~•

The sun was just starting to rise and Sally had just made it to the bridge. She was starting to feel the sickness kick in, as she slowly walked to the start of the bridge. "Come on," she said to herself. She was doing all she could to push herself to get this mission done. Sally walked to the center of the bridge but her surroundings were spinning out of control.

She fell to her knees and took her backpack off. With all her strength, she took the supplies out and started making the bomb. "So simple. You can do this…" She took the coffee can and put it down. Then she took the Mason jar full of hydrazine and placed it in the center of the can. She stopped when she heard war drums in the distance. She could also hear cheering and hooting from the warriors approaching.

Sonic and Mighty weren't too far behind Sally when they also heard the drums pounding in the distance. "You hear that?" Sonic asked.

"War drums?"

"Come on!" Sonic said before running off.

"We're running towards the war drums?" Mighty asked in disbelief. "Oh, I hate this plan…"

The grounders were making their way towards the bridge. They ran through the forest with torches, spears, swords, and bows and arrows. They leaped through the trees or ran on foot ready for battle. All of them were different colored echidnas wearing black leather, and bones for armor.

Meanwhile back on the bridge, Sally was pouring the gunpowder inside the coffee can around the Mason jar. She placed the metal lid on top to finish it. Sonic and Mighty came to a halt on top of a hill. Through the trees they could see Sally making the bomb on the bridge.

"Sally!" Sonic shouted. She didn't hear her name being called and continued to finish her task.

"She's still building the bomb." Sonic went to run after her but, Mighty stopped him. "Hey, Sonic, wait. She's got this."

Once Sally was done making the bomb she grabbed her rifle, and started making her way back towards the other end of the bridge. Sonic watched as she collapsed to the ground with the gun.

"Sal!" Sonic ran towards her. He picked her up off the floor and carried her away. "Is the bomb ready?" he whispered.

"Yeah," she said weakly.

Sonic was able to get far enough away and hid behind some trees. Mighty was still further back. "Shoot, Mighty!" he shouted.

The grounders were here and started running for the bridge. The grounders ran down the bridge and just as they got close to the can Mighty successfully shot the can. A huge explosion erupted sending the grounders flying backwards or getting incinerated.

•~•

From camp, everyone outside saw a huge cloud of smoke rise above the trees in the distance. Shadow and Amy were outside gathering everyone to head inside. They looked at the sky. "They did it," Shadow said quietly.

•~•

Knuckles was packing his belongings in a satchel when Rouge entered. He looked up at her with a disappointed stare. She knew why he was mad. "We had to attack," she started.

Knuckles turned away. "You don't understand. The mountain men will come and they'll kill us all." He walked over to a wall with a shelf. "We have to get out of here while we still have the chance." He grabbed some items and shoved them in his bag.

"Mountain men?" Rouge asked. "You mean the drawings in your book?"

"Yeah, now let's go." He put his bag over his chest. "We have a lot of ground to cover."

"I'm not going with you." He stopped in his tracks.

Knuckles approached her. "You'll die here..."

"Maybe."

He stared at her bewildered by her optimism and reason. "Why?"

"They're _my _people." She sighed. "I'm sorry." She turned around. "Goodbye, Knuckles." She walked out of the cave to get back to camp.

•~•

"They're back!" a guard shouted.

Mighty, Sonic, and Sally came back to camp. Everyone clapped for them as they entered through the gates. Sonic carried Sally back into camp and towards the drop ship. Amy followed after to help him.

•~•

Later, Amy sat by Sally as she lay in the hammock. She took her pulse and looked at her watch. "She's getting stronger," she smiled. "I'll give you a moment alone." Amy got up and left the drop ship.

Sonic stared down at Sally as she woke up. "Hey," he smiled.

"Hey." She smiled back weakly. "Y-you saved my life."

"Wouldn't have had to if you didn't take the bomb," he grinned.

"You hesitated..."

"What?" he said confused by her statement.

"When Shadow asked who was going to take it, you hesitated," she explained.

"It's what people do when they're considering something that might blow them up, right?" he chuckled.

Sally didn't laugh with him and kept a straight face. "You didn't hesitate when Amy was falling…" His smile slowly faded. "You knew she had the virus, but you caught her, anyway."

He knew where this was going. "—Sal."

"-You didn't hesitate," she repeated weakly.

He looked at her sadly. "Sal, I love you."

"Not the way that I want to be loved," she said honestly. "Not the way that you love Amy," she said with tears coming to her eyes. Sonic stayed silent not sure of what to say. She was right but he couldn't admit that to her. "It's over, Sonic…" She turned her head away and closed her eyes. "Just go."

He blinked in surprise. Had she just broken up with him? "But, Sal."

"-Please," she begged not looking at him.

Sonic slowly backed out of the room and left. He stopped at the drop ship door and looked back at her. "I'm sorry…" he whispered.

•~•

**Author's Note:** Sorry I took so long to update to those that care. I don't get many reviews on this story anyway. :/ Good news is I finally got a job. I'm now working as a production assistant on Dr. Phil! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. The 100 comes back on TV tonight for the second half of season 2! I'm so excited. Remember to leave a review. :)


	14. Captured

**AN:** Thank you to those that left me reviews. I figure not many people cared for this story!

•~•

Amy stood watch outside the camp gates as other boys patrolled along the walls. Shadow came out the front gates and spotted Amy standing alone staring off into the woods. He came up from behind and stood by her side. "See anything?"

She shook her head. "It's been two days. Maybe the bomb at the bridge scared them off for good."

"You believe that?" he asked curiously.

She stayed quiet for a moment before answering. "No. They're coming."

"Tails thinks he can cook up some more gunpowder, if he gets some sulfur," Shadow explained. He started to turn, and Amy followed him. The two walked back towards the entrance. "Sally says she can turn that into landmines. So, be careful where you step," he smirked.

She shot him a deadpan expression. "Funny…"

"What I really need is 1,000 more of her tin can bombs, so I can blow those grounders to hell."

Amy stopped and shot him a troubled look. Shadow noticed her disapproving stare. "That's what they want to do to us," he argued.

She put a hand to her face. "I can't believe we survived a hundred years so we could slaughter each other." She took a deep sigh. "There has to be another way."

"Any word from the ark?" he asked shifting the conversation.

She shook her head. "Just radio silence," she replied.

Shadow's face looked saddened. "There could still be hope."

"No one is coming down to save us," she said sadly before walking off. Shadow watched her retreat back into camp.

•~•

Back on the ark, Kane laid on his back in one of the halls of the ship. It was completely dark but suddenly a whirling sound kicked in, and the lights started to flicker on in the hall. Kane started to stir as he came to. He reached out after feeling air hit his face. One of the vents near the bottom of the floors had kicked in.

He reached out and felt the breeze hit his hand. Getting to his feet and looking around, he realized he was completely alone. "Hello?" He looked around. "Is anyone here?" Kane walked around the corner and saw the darkened hall with flickering lights.

•~•

Sally was in her tent working on making bullets when Sonic came in. "What's up?"

She didn't bother to look back at him. "Split loads, turning one bullet into two. It's all I can do until we get more gunpowder. I saw Tails taking buckets from the latrine, but I didn't ask any questions," she laughed.

He came up by her side and watched her work. "So, are we good?" he said looking at her work on a bullet.

"Maybe. Still deciding."

Sonic noticed she still wouldn't look up at him. He walked over to her other side. "I keep wanting to apologize again."

She finally looked up at him. "You don't have to, we're good." Sonic didn't buy it based on her blank expression. The prolonged silence made her look away. "I need to keep working."

He shoved his hands into his pockets. "Dang, that's bad…"

"What?" she asked flatly.

"When you're really pissed off, you always find a project to keep your hands busy, so you don't punch someone in the face."

She continued working. "I'm not keeping busy, Sonic. I'm keeping us alive," she corrected.

He nodded and backed off. "You're right, that was a dumb thing to say. See you later."

He started heading for the tent flap but she stood up. "Wait." Sonic stopped and looked back at her. "We're good. Honest. I just want you to be happy," she said trying to force a smile.

"Thanks, Sal. I still think of you as family. I'll always be there for you," he smiled.

She nodded. "I know."

•~•

Amy walked through the busy camp. Shadow had teens patrolling the fences while others worked around camp. Mighty came up behind her. "Amy!"

She stopped and turned towards him. "Yeah?"

"We're getting low on food. We need to go hunting."

"Right, I'll let Shadow know." She started walking towards the drop ship when she saw Shadow standing off to the side. "Shadow!"

Shadow turned away from a group of guys he was talking to. "What?"

"Food supply is getting low. We need to go out and hunt," she explained.

"Shit." He sighed. "There's some nuts and berries in the drop ship but it's only enough to last us maybe one or two weeks."

"We need to go out there. I'll get some people." She started to walk off but he grabbed her arm.

"No, with the whole grounder army out there? It's too dangerous," he warned.

"Look, we can't defend ourselves if we're all starving," she argued.

He sighed in defeat. "Fine."

•~•

Shadow rounded up some groups to go out and hunt. The groups stood in the drop ship as he instructed what to do. "Each group goes out with one gun. They're for killing grounders, not food," he made explicit. "We don't have the ammo." He pointed over to a corner. "Use the spears for hunting. Get what you can before nightfall. No one stays after dark." The groups nodded and lined up to get a gun.

Amy walked over to grab a spear when a yellow bumblebee with a gun came up behind her. "Hey, Amy?" She turned around and looked at the young bee. He couldn't be older than fifteen. "You alone? Cause if you are, maybe we can go together?" he asked eagerly.

"Sure. You're, Charmy, right?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah!"

She smiled at his eagerness. "I'll get some gear, be right back." She walked over to the spears to grab one when Sonic came up behind her. "You ready to go?" he smiled.

Amy shook her head. "Uh, yeah, I don't think so." She picked up one of the spears.

He frowned. "Come on, Ames. I'm a good tracker," he argued. "Besides you're lousy with a spear, but you're sneaky. We make a good team."

Before Amy could say another word Charmy came up in between them. "Hey, partner, we're wasting daylight." He looked over to Sonic. "Oh, Sonic, you're joining the band?"

"Uh, yeah." He didn't know who this kid was. "Who are you?"

"I'm Charmy! I haven't really gotten a chance to hang with you guys much." Amy and Sonic started making their way out of the drop ship. Charmy tagged along behind them. "Hey, do you even know how I got arrested on the ark?"

Sonic shot Amy a look before shaking his head in amusement. "I'm dying to hear about it," he said sarcastically.

Charmy was oblivious to his sarcasm and led the way. "Great, it's a good story!" Amy stifled a laugh as the two continued to walk.

•~•

Back on the ark, Kane continued making his way through the dark halls. "Anybody there?" He stumbled across some supplies scattered across the floor. He bent down and found a flashlight. He picked it up and turned it on looking around with his light source. Kane continued walking down the hall when he heard something being knocked over. It echoed through the hall and he continued towards the sound. His flashlight landed on a black male dog leaning against the wall. He looked exhausted and nearly unconscious. "Hey, you, can you hear me?" he asked kneeling down besides him.

"Huh?" he lifted his head and saw Kane staring back at him. "Councilor, sir?"

"Your name is Wick, isn't it? From engineering?" he asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I came down here to override the containment codes to keep the doors open," he explained weakly. "But, I messed up."

Kane put a hand on his shoulder. "You didn't mess up."

"Really?" he asked surprised.

"Really," he smirked. Kane looked behind him. "Did you see anyone else around here?"

"No. I heard there was a hull breach in engineering."

"It was a breach?" he asked shocked.

Wick nodded. "What the hell happened, anyway?"

"We were betrayed," he stated. "Councilor Alicia took the Exodus ship by force," he explained. "Damage to the ark was catastrophic."

Wick grimaced. "What a bitch…" He looked up at Kane. "And my mom voted for her." Kane helped him stand to his feet, and his ears twitched. "Hey, I can hear the pumps. I think the vents are working up ahead."

Kane looked down the darker parts of the hall. "Let's go. If you survived there could be others."

As they walked down the darkened halls, occasional lights flickered from the ceiling illuminating parts of the corridors. "It's like a ghost ship," Wick noted. They came to the end of one hall and saw a group of people huddled on the floors coughing. All of them looked extremely weak and frail. Kane shined his light on them to see if he saw anyone familiar.

•~•

Meanwhile back on Mobius, Sonic bent down and examined tracks in the dirt. Charmy stood next to Sonic and observed. "One of those panther things?" he asked.

"No. Boar," he corrected.

Charmy blew out a sigh of relief. "Good." Amy and Sonic walked ahead as they continued following the tracks. Charmy walked behind them a little fidgety and nervous as he clutched onto his gun. "I love hanging with you guys, you're awesome."

Sonic and Amy knelt down by some more tracks and Sonic stared at them skeptically. Amy noticed his troubled look, and glanced back at Charmy. "Can you be quiet for a second?" She turned back to Sonic. "What is it?" she whispered.

His hands grazed the prints. "These tracks…"

Amy looked down at them. "They're perfect," she said realizing what he was on to.

"Too perfect." Sonic looked up and slowly observed around having something dawn on him. "We're the ones being hunted."

Charmy held his gun up and looked around with it aimed. "I don't see anything." Suddenly two arrows flew out from in front of them and hit Charmy in the knee and shoulder, he yelled and fell back. "Aaah!"

Amy and Sonic looked at their fallen friend. "Charmy!" Amy exclaimed.

Sonic grabbed Amy's hand. "Ames, we got to leave him," he said looking around. He couldn't see the grounders anywhere but he knew they were close. He got up and started to run but a grounder came up from behind Amy and knocked her out from behind. "Aah!" she fell to the ground unconscious.

Sonic halted and looked back at her. "Amy!" Then a grounder dropped down from the trees above behind him and hit the back of his head. Sonic fell to the ground and stared at Amy as his eyes started to close. " Amy…" A blue echidna approached Amy and picked her up.

•~•

Back on the ark, Kane distributed air mask to the people around on the floor. "Hey, how's the air in here?" he said looking at Wick.

"Crappy," Wick replied dully.

Kane got back up. "I'm going to check the next few compartments."

Wick looked up at him. "Whoa, hey, are you sure you want to do that? This ship took a lot of damage." Kane turned around and stared at him. "You take the wrong door and you could be stepping out into space," he warned.

"We need to keep moving," he said quietly. "The air in here can turn bad any second."

"At least we're breathing. The C02 scrubbers down here have kicked back on."

Kane raised a brow. "They can restart themselves?"

He shook his head. "No. The electrical fires blew out a DCDU. Everything is on manual."

Kane looked over to one of the vents on the floor and stuck his hand out over it. "Is it getting cooler in here?"

"I don't feel it," Wick replied sticking his hand out.

Kane blinked a few times as his mind raced. "Could someone restart the central cooling exchanges in this level?"

"No. That runs through the primary board," he explained.

"…Mobius monitoring," Kane mumbled. He looked over to the group of people sitting on the floor. "We need to get these people moving now!"

"Uh, where?"

Kane put his hands on Wick's shoulders. "The cooling air is a message," he stated. "I think someone is alive in Mobius monitoring," he said optimistically.

Wick stared at him bewildered. "…The air is a _message_?" he stated skeptically. "Okay, you have hypoxia, all right? You're working with about 10% of your brain-."

"-I'm not going to let these people die here. Get them moving," he ordered.

•~•

Amy gained consciousness and sat up. She was sitting on the floor in some sort of abandoned bunker. She looked to her left, and saw Sonic sitting next to her with chains around his wrists. "Ames!" he said happily.

"…Where are we?"

"Some sort of basement or something. We walked about three miles," he explained.

"You weren't knocked out?" she asked.

He shook his head. "They carried you here and I walked." He lifted up his chained hands. Amy looked down and noticed her hands were chained too. "We crossed a creek before we got to a road," he whispered. "I know how to get back."

"Sonic, they're probably going to kill us," she whispered back. The two grounders came back in from behind them. There was a blue and green echidna. Both walked over and lifted them up to their feet. They made the two walk around another corner into another room. Lien- Da stood inside and stared at the two hedgehogs. She walked over and unlocked the locks and chains from around their wrists. Amy looked at her bemused. "What do you want from us?"

The blue echidna moved some drapes behind Lien and revealed a young female brown echidna lying on a table. The female gasped in pain and clutched her side. Lien-Da shoved Amy forward towards the girl. Amy stared at the girl in horror, and Lien-Da pointed to the suffering female. "Help her." Her eyes landed over to Sonic. "Because, if she dies, he dies."

•~•

Back on the ark, Kane walked the other way down the hall leading towards the doors to Mobius monitoring. Wick and the other survivors followed behind him. They stopped when his flashlight landed on the ceiling debris blocking the entrance. "Rest in piece, Mobius monitoring," Wick stated.

"I need to get in there," Kane said with determination.

"It's game over man. There's a trapped pressurized door between us an that debris." Wick walked over to the wall with a communicator. He pressed down on a button and held it. "Attention, Mobius monitor. Is anyone there?" he said into the speaker.

Inside the monitor room, Jaha sat in a rolling chair and rolled over to his communication device. Jackson was in the background typing on a keyboard. Jaha pressed down on a button. "We read you," he said weakly. "Who is this?' he panted. Both men were very sweaty and weak.

Kane approached his monitor recognizing the voice. He held down on the button. "Sir, it's good to hear your voice!"

Jaha smiled. "Of course it's you, Kane. You're too stubborn to die."

"I could say the same for you," he smiled.

"What is your situation?"

"We have a dozen survivors," Kane explained on his end.

Jaha smiled. "Good work, councilor." The monitors behind him all flickered and spazzed out of control. "Jackson is rerouting power and air to the mess hall. Lead your people there."

"I will, after we get you," Kane corrected.

"No. A fire burned through most of our oxygen. We put it out but we don't have very long," he explained. "All access is blocked. We are reviving as many of the ark citizens as we can before oxygen runs out."

Kane shook his head. "I won't leave you to die, sir."

"As your Chancellor, I am ordering you to gather as many survivors as you can and lead them to mess hall. Jaha out."

Kane looked back at the survivors staring at him. "We need to get him out of there."

"With all that debris in the way, it'll never happen," Wick stated.

"We need to at least try!" He walked over and started trying to move a piece of metal rafter out of the way. He strained trying to push the heavy object. Wick and the others watched him struggle. After a couple of moments, Wick sighed in defeat and marched over. He stood next to him and started to help him push. Some of the other survivors exchanged looks before walking over and helping. Kane smiled by the unity of survivors as they pushed together. "We can do this, guys!"

•~•

Back with the grounders, Amy stared at the girl. She looked extremely injured. "Her name is Tris," Lien-Da explained.

"I can't do this," Amy said staring at Lien. "I don't have any equipment."

She crossed her arms. "We'll provide you with what we can."

"Why do you think I can save her?" she asked confused.

Sonic stared at Lien-Da as an idea came to mind. "Knuckles told her…"

"Yes. Our healer is gone. There's nothing we can do for her," she explained. She glanced over at Sonic. "For his sake I hope you can."

Sonic looked over to Amy with confidence. "Ames, you can do this," he encouraged.

Lien-Da started to leave the room. "Wait," Amy called. Lien looked over her shoulder at Amy. "What happened to her?"

"She was on the bridge when your bomb exploded," she stated flatly. "You did this to her."

•~•

Back at camp, Sally and Tails worked on making walkie-talkies for the camp. Tails tinkered with the old radio trying to find the right frequency. Sally came over towards him. "I found some good antenna wire for the radios." She placed it down on the table in front of him. "You find anything else from the Exodus ship wreckage?"

"Yeah, data log." He smiled. "Want to hear something weird?" He fiddled with the radio. At first it was just static but then something quivered through the static making a weird rattlesnake like sound.

Sally twitched her ears as she listened. "Sounds like interference."

"Wait. It gets weirder." He moved one of the dials more. "When the signal hit, their Nav system went nuts. They never got it back, and then…boom." Sally listened to his explanation intrigued. "It's like something was jamming the signal."

"That is weird. It also makes no sense whatsoever." She turned around. "Pull the drive in speakers."

Tails looked at her bewildered. "You want to strip it?" He shook his head. "We'll never find out where they crashed."

"We need to use every component we can get our hands on if we're going to make walkies," she argued. She looked down at his radio. "And I need the radio."

He blocked it with his arms. "No way! How are we supposed to contact the ark?"

She stared at him with a stoic expression. "The ark is not there. You're listening to a hole in the sky."

"But my family is up there…" he said sadly.

Sally picked up the radio. "I'm sorry…" She heard chattering come from outside the drop ship and walked out with the radio in hand. Groups of boys came back, and Scourge stood off to the side going through berries organizing them. "The hunters are back?" she asked him. "Is Sonic back?"

"I don't think so," he said in a bored voice. Sally rolled her eyes and walked past him. Scourge looked her way and smirked. "Hey, relax. I'm sure Amy is keeping him out of trouble." Sally stopped in her tracks and shut her eyes tight. That was the last thing she wanted to think about. She loathed the idea of the two being together, but she knew it was what Sonic really wanted.

•~•

Back with the grounders, the green echidna laid out a cloth filled with different medical tools. Sonic knelt besides Amy as they examined the tools. "She's getting worse," Sonic noted hearing the girl cough and gasp from behind them.

Amy got up and walked over to the table with the girl. "Help me lift her up," she instructed. Sonic got up and followed her. The two propped her up so she was sitting. "Here we go…" Amy pressed her ear up against her back and listened. "She's not moving any air on the left side."

Sonic noticed five marks on the girls left shoulder. They were raised bumps and looked ghastly. He looked over to Amy. "What does that mean?" referring to Amy's theory.

"There's fluid pressing on her lungs," Amy explained.

He looked her over. "I don't see an entry wound."

"No. It wasn't shrapnel it was trauma," she stated. They lowered her back down onto her back. "The force of the explosion- it hit her in the chest." Amy walked over to the set of tools. "She's drowning in her own blood." The girl lay on the table gasping for breath as Amy looked through the set of tools. "She can't breathe. I have to relieve the pressure." She picked up a tool that looked similar to a scalpel. She went over to a lit flame to help sterilize the tool. Then she looked over to the two grounders keeping watch. "I need a small tube, something rigid the size of my finger," she instructed.

The green echidna went through a toolbox nearby, and picked out a tube just like the one Amy described. He handed it over to Sonic. "Here."

Sonic took it reluctantly. "Thanks."

Amy stood besides the girl. "Fifth intercostal space," she muttered. She lifted up her shirt and pierced into her side. The girl gasped out in pain as the scalpel entered through her side. She made an incision and blood started to gush out. Sonic handed her the tube and she inserted it into the hole. "This better work," she prayed. Amy looked down at the young girl. "You're okay. Breathe," she instructed softly. Tris nodded and did as instructed.

Lien-Da walked back into the room and saw the tube sticking out of Tris' side. "What have you done?!" she barked. She marched up to the three of them.

Amy looked back at her. "No. You don't understand. She couldn't breathe. Lien-Da shoved her out of the way, and Amy fell onto the ground.

Sonic narrowed his eyes and tried to get over to Amy. "Hey!" he shouted.

One of the grounders grabbed Sonic by the shoulders and punched him hard in the face making him hit the ground. Amy lifted herself slightly as she watched Sonic hit the ground. "Sonic…"

•~•

Kane and the other survivors managed to break through the debris and enter the monitor room. Jaha was sat on the floor leaned up against the side of the desk. Kane rushed over with a briefcase in hand. "Sir!"

The silver hedgehog turned his head slightly towards the white hedgehog. "I told you to get to the mess hall," he said weakly.

Kane pressed an oxygen mask up against his face. "You know me, I'm stubborn," he laughed.

Jaha didn't laugh at the matter and pulled the mask away from his face. "I gave you an order that you were bound by law to follow."

"Sir, the people in this room are our best chance to save the ark," he argued. He put the mask back over his face. "Besides, a wise man once told me I needed to learn when not to follow the law," he smiled.

He nodded and smiled. "Thank you."

•~•

Back on Mobius, Amy and Sonic stood off in the corner while Tris rested. Her breathing had steadied for the most part. Lien-Da stood over Tris while she stroked her face and looked after her. Amy watched Lien-Da stare down at Tris. "Even if I can save her, what happens then?" she whispered to Sonic.

"Then maybe we don't die today," he whispered back.

Lien-Da placed a hand to her forehead and frowned. "She's hot," she said looking over to Amy.

Amy walked over and placed a hand over her heart. She stayed quiet as she listened. "Her heart rate is way up." She looked over to Sonic. "She's probably septic."

"What does that mean?" Lien-Da snapped.

"It means her blood is poisoned," Amy explained.

Sonic walked over with some vials in hand. "What about this stuff?" He held up a vial of orange liquid.

"That slows the bleeding," the blue echidna said in the corner.

"A coagulant? No," Amy said looking at the other vials.

Sonic kneeled down and looked through more of their medical medicines. "I don't see any antibiotics. Maybe like that lake seaweed?"

Amy helped looking through her supplies. She held up vials of colored liquid getting more frustrated by the second. "She doesn't need seaweed. She needs real medicine." She stood up and glared at Lien-Da. "How could you send a little girl into battle?"

Lien-Da kept a straight face. "She was with me, and was my second. It's how we train them to be warriors."

Amy crossed her arms. "Oh, so the killing can just go on and on?"

Sonic could see Lien-Da was getting fired up. "Amy-"

Lien-Da got up in her face. "You put the bomb on the bridge," she pointed. "You did this to her!"

•~•

Jaha looked to Kane. "Any word yet on causalities?"

"No. Jackson still has teams assessing damage, but whole stations may have been lost. I estimate no more than 1,000 survivors."

"Hey, guys I found something," Wick interrupted.

"What'd you find?" Jaha said.

"Data from the exodus launch. The monitor says that service hatch beta was manually sealed before the launch from our side."

"There was someone in the service bay?" Kane asked in disbelief.

"People jumped ship at the last moment?" Jaha questioned.

"Maybe Alicia threw them off last second," Kane deduced. He looked to Wick. "Could they still be alive in the service bay?"

"Well, sir, if they hunkered down and got lucky, yeah they could still be alive," he guessed. Kane started making his way out of the monitor room. "Where are you going?"

"To get to those survivors."

•~•

Sonic stared at Amy. "She's not breathing…"

Amy put her finger on her pulse and waited. She felt nothing and fear struck her face. Tris had died. Lien-Da walked over and looked down at the fallen girl. She took a dagger from her side and cut one of Tris' locks. The green echidna walked over and picked up Tris' body, and carried her out of the room. Sonic and Amy stayed close as they watched.

Lien-Da started following the other grounder out with Tris but stopped by the door. She casually looked over her shoulder at the silver echidna. "Take him away and kill him," she instructed.

Amy became panicked. "No, no, no!" The blue grounder came and restrained Amy, while the silver echidna dragged Sonic out of the room. Amy watched helplessly as Sonic was taken out of the room. "Please don't!" she begged.

Sonic shot Amy a look as he was taken out. "Amy, stop! They'll hurt you!"

Amy cried as Sonic left her sight. She had failed and now it would result in Sonic's death. "No!"

•~•

Sally was once again in her tent working on making walkie-talkies. Tails came in and saw she had finished making them. "You finished?"

She looked over her shoulder at him. "Hey." She stood up and faced him. "Yeah. I'm sorry about before, really, and about your family."

He gave a weak smile. "Thanks. Oh, and all the hunters are back except for Sonic and Amy."

She frowned and sat back down. "Whatever…" She didn't want to think about what the two were possibly up to.

"Sally, they were with another kid –Charmy. They all left camp together."

Sally looked up becoming worried. "Wait, all three of them are still out there?"

"Yeah. We're going to look for them. Bring the walkies," he said.

•~•

Kane forced the bay doors open. There were at least ten people inside lying on their sides or slumped over. Kane shined his flashlight and some of the survivors moved and shielded their eyes from the light. His flashlight landed over to a female turned away on her side. He walked over her. "Hey, wake up!" He turned her over on her side and saw that it was Abby!

"Abby…" he held her face in his hands as he stared at her. She was out of it and had her eyes shut, and was sweaty and disoriented. "Abby, wake up."

She finally opened her eyes weakly. "It's so hot…"

"Don't worry, I'm getting you out of here," he picked her up.

•~•

"Lien will take no pleasure out of your friend's death. If you prove your worth, you'll be welcome here," the blue echidna explained.

"I couldn't save Tris. Why would you want me?" she asked solemnly.

"We told you. Our healer is gone." He stood up and looked down at her sternly.

Amy stared up at him and knew exactly why she was going to be kept there. Ideas flooded through her mind and she stood up. She walked over to the table that Tris had been laid on and saw a scalpel laying on the table. She pretended to stroke one of the fur fleeces laid out on the table. "Will I be able to go back to see them—my friends, my home?" she asked with her back turned to him.

He crossed his arms and watched her closely. "Tomorrow there will be nothing more to go back to."

Amy switched the conversation. "Those marks on Tris' shoulder. What were they?" She slid the scalpel into one of her jacket pockets and slowly turned around.

"Each scar marks a kill in combat," he explained.

She remembered there were five marks on Tris' back. "Five kills..? She was a little girl."

"She was brave," he replied.

Amy stepped closer to him. "How many do you have?" He lifted his shirt down on his chest and revealed his. He had about twenty marks. She stepped closer to get a look. "That's a lot."

He smirked. "And half were after I hurt my knee." Amy took that trivial fact and kicked him hard in the shin. He yelled and fell on the ground while grabbing his hurt knee. She took the scalpel and stabbed him in the side of the neck. Blood gushed out of his neck and he fell on his back. She stared coldly down at him with no remorse. Amy looked towards the entrance and bolted. She knew she needed to find Sonic and get out of there.

•~•

Meanwhile in other parts of the woods, Shadow, Tails, Mighty, and Sally tested the walkies, while they searched for Sonic and Amy.

"Where are you guys?" Sally said over her walkie. She was with Mighty as the two hunted for their friends, while Shadow and Tails were in another part of the woods nearby.

"Keep the moon on your left and you'll find us," Shadow instructed over his walkie.

A weird faint signal sounded through he woods and Tails' ears twitched. "Does anyone else hear this signal?" he asked over his walkie. He had separated from Shadow and was in another part of the forest.

"Just keep your eyes open," Sally responded.

Tails was off by himself with a gun and walkie in hand. "I think it's the same thing we heard on the black box," he replied.

Shadow radioed back. "Damn it, Tails, pay attention," he said sternly. "Do you see anything?"

With Tails, he stopped in his tracks when he came across something. He stared at in in horror speechless. "Report," he heard Shadow demand over the walkie.

Tails dropped his walkie. "Oh, my god…"

A loud screech echoed over all the walkies and the groups became confused. With Sally and Mighty they saw movement in a bush nearby. Sally radioed Shadow. "There's someone in the bushes," she said cautiously.

Sally and Mighty came over and moved the bush and saw Charmy on his side. He groaned as he saw the two. "Augh…"

"Charmy?" Mighty exclaimed. Shadow heard the two and caught up.

Sally kneeled by Charmy. "Where are they?"

"Grounders, took them," he gasped in pain.

Shadow knelt down by Charmy. "Take it easy, kid. We'll get you back to camp."

Mighty looked to Shadow. "What about Amy and Sonic?" Shadow stayed quiet with a loss of words. Sally stood up feeling tears coming.

"Sally," Shadow stopped her. "I'm sorry…"

Sally walked away. "I just need a moment."

Shadow watched her walk away and looked back at his walkie in hand. He clicked the button and radioed him. "Tails, we're heading home. Do you copy?" There was no response so he tried again. "Tails, can you hear me?" Again, still nothing.

"Grounders?" Mighty asked.

"I don't know…"

•~•

In another part of the woods, Amy ran through the forest constantly looking over her shoulder. She knew it was only a matter of time before the grounders noticed she was missing. She had tried to look for Sonic but couldn't find him anywhere. Suddenly her foot snagged something and she was lifted up into the air by a trap. She dangled upside down as the rope snagged her. Her vision started to slip before she went unconscious.

•~•

**Author's Note:** Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Remember to leave a review! :)


	15. We Are Grounders

**Author's note:** I just want to thank all the people that take the time to read and leave a review on my story. I know I've said this over and over, but I love receiving feedback. Also, I'm thrilled to say I've motived/inspired plenty of my readers to watch the show this is based off of. That is awesome to hear! :) This is a fairly long chapter, so I hope ya'll don't mind.

•~•

Jaha and the rest of the gathered survivors sat in a large conference room. Jaha was explaining their predicament and situation to the rest of the group. "Every simulation has been run. Every system modification has been made. The hard and simple fact is that in 51 hours, life on the ark will no longer be possible." The rest of the survivors exchanged looks in silence. Jaha sighed noticing their disappointed stares. "I choose to find consolation in one remarkable truth. Our legacy will go on with the 100."

"So, what do we do now?" Abby asked.

"We find our own peace." He stood up and dismissed the group. "You are dismissed. Enjoy your final hours." There was nothing else that could be done at this point and everyone realized that.

•~•

Back on Mobius, Shadow had the hundred digging holes to bury the landmines Sally had built. It was late in the night and there were a couple more hours till morning. "Come on. These foxholes aren't going to dig themselves."

Shadow stopped behind Sally and Mighty busy burying a landmine. "Better hope those landmines work. That's all the gunpowder we had left."

Sally didn't bother to look back at him. "Want to come over here and test one?" she quipped.

"Cute."

She smiled proudly. "I try."

"I need this entire section mined by morning. Then finish the south field," he turned to walk away but Sally got to her feet.

"Hey, I told you, we're going after Sonic, Amy, and Tails in the morning."

He turned around. "And I told you, nobody leaves this camp," he countered.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "We can't just abandon our people…"

"This camp is the only thing keeping us alive," he said quietly. "Now get back to work," he said sternly.

•~•

In another part of the forest, Amy sat by a campfire with her hands tied together in front of her. Lien-Da sat on the opposite side of the bonfire while two of her other men sat nearby keeping watch. Lien's eyes never left sight of Amy, as her hands extended in front of her to gather the warmth from the flames. A branch cracked nearby and both Amy and Lien-Da looked to the left from the source of the sound. A purple echidna stepped out wearing armor similar to Lien-Da's. He started to approach Amy sitting on her log. She moved back intimidated by the male nearing her.

"So, these are the ones that oppose you?" he asked Lien with his sights set on Amy.

"Yes," Lien-Da simply replied as she watched the two carefully.

Amy looked up at the echidna as he stood in front of her. "W-who are you?"

"I'm the one sent to slaughter your people," he said confidently with a dark smile.

"The commander sent you, Tristan?" Lien-Da spoke.

"He turned and looked over at her. "Yes, and your unit is mine now." Lien-Da looked at him surprised. He walked over closer to the fire. "My rangers are hungry. They're at the river. Go feed them," he ordered.

Lien-Da stared at him speechless by his demands. She was not used to being bossed around. Tristan marched over and stood in front of the female echidna. "We march on the invader's camp at first light. Now go."

"Lien, look!" One of Lien's men shouted.

Lien-Da, Tristan and Amy all looked to the right and saw a flame in the distance in the mountains. "Signal fire," Lien muttered.

"Reapers," Tristan growled.

Lien-Da looked over to one of her men. "Let them know we see it," she ordered. She turned to Tristan. "I'll send my fastest rider to warn the commander."

"No," he barked. "There's no time." He pointed towards Amy. "Kill the prisoner and get to the river!" Tristan marched off to get his men. Lien-Da looked back at Amy as she went through her options. A red echidna wearing armor and a mask approached Lien-Da. His purple eyes peered through his leather bone mask.

"Is the boy dead?" Lien-Da asked.

"Mm-hm," he responded. Amy felt her heart skip a beat. Sonic was dead? This was all her fault, and now she was about to be next.

"Good. Kill the girl, then catch up," she instructed before walking off.

The male echidna started to approach Amy as she scooted back. "No, please don't!" she begged. The echidna picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. Amy thrashed and kicked as she tried to escape his hold. He carried her off into another part of the woods. "Noo!" she screamed.

•~•

Shadow was alone in the drop ship looking at his drawn map of camp. Mighty came inside and Shadow glanced over towards the armadillo. Mighty stared at him with disappointment.

Shadow crossed his arms knowing exactly why he showed letdown. "Don't you think I want to be out there looking for them?"

"If it was you out there, do you think Tails, Sonic, and Amy would hide behind these walls?" he asked.

"No," he answered. "They'd go after me, but then they'd be dead, too." Mighty shook his head in disappointment. "I'm doing what I think is right for the group."

"That's funny, you didn't think that way when Rouge went missing," he countered. Mighty walked over and put his gun down on the table.

Shadow stared at him puzzled. "What are you doing?"

Mighty saluted sarcastically. "More gunpowder for your minefield, sir." With that said he left the drop ship.

•~•

"Please don't do this" Amy continued to beg as she was carried further and further away. Finally they got to another bonfire and he set her down on her feet. Amy tried to make a run for it but her grabbed her by the arm. He took a dagger from his waist and Amy shut her eyes tight figuring this would be the end. Suddenly he used the dagger to cut the rope binding her wrists together and set her free. Amy opened her eyes surprised and confused by his gesture. "You're letting me go?" she asked dumbfounded.

He nodded his head to the right and Amy looked over and saw Sonic step out from around the other side of the bonfire. He smiled warmly at her. Amy was completely shocked and ecstatic to see the blue hedgehog alive. "Oh, my god!" She ran towards him and brought him into an embrace that he returned. "You're alive…"

He held her in his arms. "Ames…"

She broke away from his embrace and looked him over as she cupped his face. "I don't understand how—"

Sonic looked over to the mysterious grounder. "You can thank him." Amy looked over to the grounder as he took off his mask.

Once he took off his mask she recognized him. "Knuckles?" Amy said in astonishment.

Sonic nodded. "Knuckles saved my life. He killed one of his own men to do it," he explained.

Amy walked over towards him. "Wait…the signal fire, that was you?"

"We needed a distraction," he responded.

"I'd say it worked," Sonic added.

Knuckles looked into the distance and saw another flame in the mountains. Sonic and Amy noticed it as well. "What does it mean?" Sonic asked.

"Lien knows Amy is not dead…" He started to run as he gestured for them to follow. "We need to hurry." Amy and Sonic followed after him. "They'll be trying to track us down."

•~•

Back at camp, Scourge was in drop ship with Charmy. Charmy still had the arrows left in him, as Shadow didn't want to remove them in fear of causing more damage than good. Charmy groaned and moaned out in pain. The green hedgehog stepped closer to Charmy and grimaced at the sight of him. "Stupid bee," he mumbled. He grabbed a plastic bag off the floor and used it to smother the helpless boy. Charmy flailed around as his oxygen source began to cut off. "Don't fight it, this is for helping put that noose around my neck," he scoffed.

After a few more moments Charmy's struggle ceased and he stopped moving. Scourge pulled the bag off from his head, and just at that moment, Mighty stepped inside the drop ship. He had seen the green hedgehog puling the plastic bag away from his head. The two stared each other down trying to play it safe. Scourge tried to play off his murder of the teen. "He stopped breathing, I, uh, tried to help him," he lied.

Mighty only nodded and acted like he hadn't seen what he had. "Yeah, I understand, man…" His eyes cascaded over to the table where he had left his gun. Scourge's eyes followed and set on the gun. Mighty make a quick attempt for the weapon but Scourge succeeded in getting there first. He swiped the gun off the table and aimed it at the armadillo. Mighty raised his hands up in surrender.

"Scourge, put the gun down," he said calmly.

Scourge glanced back at Charmy lowering his gun. "He tried to kill me…" While he was looking at Charmy Mighty slowly backed up, but Scourge caught on to his attempt. "Hey, don't move!" he said pointing the gun back at him.

"Okay, okay…It's cool," his right hand slipped into his jacket pocket.

Scourge smirked. "No, it's not. You know what'll happen to me if you tell Shadow."

"_Tell Shadow what?"_ Shadow's voice said from the walkie-talkie.

Scourge narrowed his eyes at his jacket pocket. "Give me the damn radio, Mighty."

Mighty slowly pulled the walkie out of his pocket and radioed Shadow back. "Scourge has a gun, he killed Charmy!" he said quickly. Scourge made a quick move and knocked Mighty out with his gun.

Shadow was making his way back to the drop ship after all the commotion. "Scourge, what the hell are you doing?!" He got no response and as he came up to the drop ship, he saw the drop ship door closing. Shadow rushed over trying to get inside before the door closed but failed. "Scourge, scourge!"

"You try to be a hero, and Mighty dies!" Scourge said through the walkie.

•~•

The three had been running for twenty minutes and Amy was starting to grow tired. Sonic could see she was slowing down. "Come, on Ames!"

"It's right over here!" Knuckles shouted as he led the way.

"What is?" Sonic asked.

"Someplace they won't follow," he explained. He stopped in front of a small hole leading into a cave. Amy stared into the dark abyss. "Wait, where does it lead?"

"Everywhere. There's a tunnel to your camp," he said. "If we make it through, we should get there before Tristan and his men," he explained. Far behind them, they could hear chatter from Lien-Da and Tristan's army nearing.

"They're coming," Sonic urged.

Knuckles looked back and could see the torches coming into view through the trees. He looked back at the two teens. "Go!" Sonic and Amy quickly entered into the cave and Knuckles ducked in behind them before Lien-Da and Tristan could spot them.

•~•

Rouge made her way through the crowd of teens standing outside the drop ship. Rouge stood before her brother. "I just heard Scourge has Mighty."

"Yeah, is the south foxhole done yet?" he replied with composure.

Rouge shot him a disgusted look. "What? Shadow, my friend's in there with a killer!"

"Rouge, look around. No one is working," he whispered. "If the grounder's attack us right now, we're dead."

Rouge ignored him and walked up to the drop ship door. "Scourge, if you hurt Mighty, I swear to god you're dead!" she shouted.

"Rouge," Shadow said coming up behind her. "Rouge, I got this!" he said grabbing her.

She pulled away from his touch. "Really, cause it doesn't look like it," she spat.

Suddenly Sally came up to the two from around the drop ship. "Shadow, you're right, there's a loose panel on the back," she said quietly. "If I can pop it, we can get in through the floor."

He nodded. "Good, do it." Sally walked nodded and walked off.

Rouge stood there dumbfounded and felt like an idiot. "Sorry…" She walked away.

Shadow put the walkie up to his mouth and radioed in. "Scourge, make this easy and let Mighty go."

"Why would I want to make it easy for you, Stripes?" Scourge responded.

"Come on, you don't want to hurt Mighty, you want to hurt me. Trade him and I'll take his place," he bartered.

Rouge overheard her brother's conversation and disapproved. "No!"

Shadow ignored his sister and kept talking. "All you have to do is let him go, and I walk in unarmed," he explained to the hedgehog.

Rouge grabbed Shadow's arm. "Shadow, if you do this, he'll kill you…"

"If I don't he'll kill Mighty," he countered solemnly.

"_Fine, I'll open the door. You walk in, he walks out, got it?"_ Scourge explained.

"Got it," he replied. The door to the drop ship opened and the teens around camp aimed their guns at the door.

"Get in here, Stripes!" Scourge shouted.

Shadow handed the walkie over to Rouge along with his gun. "Take this."

"Sally will find a way to get you out," Rouge whispered.

He smiled weakly. "I know. I can handle Scourge. Get everyone back to work, understand?" He walked up the drop ship door and entered inside. A few seconds later Mighty was shoved out and rolled across the drop ship door into the dirt. He was gagged and bound. Rouge rushed over and helped him.

"Mighty!" she exclaimed. The doors suddenly shut and Shadow was now trapped inside with Scourge.

•~•

Inside the cave, Knuckles used two stones together to create a spark. After a few more attempts, he got a spark that made a small fire onto some cloth and hay. It illuminated the area they were sitting in. "They didn't follow us," Sonic spoke quietly.

"Reapers use these tunnels," Knuckles said while looking around. "Tristan wouldn't risk running into them." Knuckles grabbed a spare torch attached to his back and placed it into the fire.

"What the hell is a reaper?" Sonic asked confused by the term.

The torch ignited. "Pray you never find out." He stood to his feet and held the torch up and started walking ahead. "We need to keep moving."

"Wait," Amy said stopping him. "Why are you helping us?" Knuckles remained quiet. "This can't just be about Rouge." Again, Knuckles stayed silent. Amy became frustrated by his silence. "Fine, don't tell us."

"-What my people are doing to yours is wrong," he finally answered. "That's why I'm helping you."

•~•

At camp, Sally and Mighty had managed to pop open one of the panels in the back of the drop ship. The two crawled inside. They could hear the muffled conversation of Scourge and Shadow from underneath the drop ship. There were loads of wires, circuits and metal pillars and poles from underneath it. Sally used a flashlight to help guide the two through it. "Very cool," she muttered.

Mighty crawled behind her with a gun strapped to his back. "Stop thinking like a mechanic and help me find something to shoot through."

"This mechanic is going to hotwire the door," she replied while opening a circuit board.

"He's up there because of me," he groaned loudly.

"Shh!" Sally shushed. "Help me find a door circuit."

"We lost Amy, we can't loose Shadow too…"

"Mighty, shut up," she said quietly. 'We're they're right above us!"

"Can't I just shoot from underneath the floor?" he asked anxiously.

"Bad idea." She pointed to the tank above their heads with a sign that read: Hydrazine. "There's loads of it. Which means we could use this to make more bombs…"

"Put that on our to do list and just get that door open."

Inside the drop ship, Scourge aimed his gun towards Shadow as a noose hung over one of the pillars. "What do you want me to say, Scourge? You want me to apologize?"

"No, I want you to feel what I felt, and then I want you to die," he smirked. Shadow looked up at the noose dangling from the ceiling. He hoped Sally could would accomplish her task fast enough.

•~•

Back on the ark, Jaha sat in his cabin as he waited out the rest of his hours alive. While he sat alone in his room, he drank alcohol and watched an old video of Amy and Silver as young children. He smiled as he listened and watched the recording. He heard his voice through the video. _"Come on, let's rehearse for the unity day pageant."_

_In the video Silver bent over and whispered something into Amy's ear making her giggle._ The white hedgehog couldn't help but smile and reminisce about the old days when things were easier._ "Come on, Silver give me your lines,"_ he heard himself say in the video. He remembered that day when he was trying to help the two remember their lines.

_Silver stood besides Amy in the video and looked at the camera. "The other stations, wanted to…to," his voice trailed off as he tried to recall the rest._

_"-Wanted to be together," Jaha corrected. "Keep going."_

"_When all the stations were joined they called themselves the ark."_

"_Good job, Silver," Jaha commended. Amy smiled happily and clapped._

"_Daddy, how does the ark stay in space anyway?" Silver asked in the video._

"_Good question. It works by keeping out of the planet's gravitational pull," he explained in the video._

_Amy looked back to the camera. "My daddy, says it's the thrusters!" _

"_Well, your daddy's right, Amy. There are thrusters all over the ark. Every station has them."_ It was at that second Jaha had an Ah-Ha moment and an idea came to mind. He continued to listen to the old recording of himself. "_They keep us spinning so that we generate our own gravity. They help us stay in orbit and they help us steer."_

Jaha stopped the video and stood up from his seat. "That's it…"

•~•

Back on Mobius, Knuckles lead the way through the cave. They came to some old train tracks and stopped. The echidna handed his torch over to Sonic while he pulled out his book. Knuckles flipped some pages before stopping on a map. "This tunnel seems like it never ends," Sonic noted.

"I know."

While the two boys tried to figure out how much longer the tunnel went, Amy saw a faint light coming towards them from the other end. She could also hear distant shouting as the light drew nearer.

"What is that?" she asked quietly.

Knuckles looked up from his book and listened. "Reapers…" He grabbed the torch from Sonic's hand and threw into a puddle extinguishing it. The darkness concealed their presence, and Knuckles guided the two teens towards one of the walls and ducked down.

•~•

Back at the drop ship, Shadow dragged a metal stool and placed it underneath the noose. He looked over to Scourge trying to figure out how to stall time. "Stand on it," Scourge instructed. He got on. "Put it over your head."

Shadow narrowed his eyes at him. "This is insane, the grounders could-"

BANG. Scourge shot near the stool. Outside, the hundred heard the gunfire and could only think the worse. Rouge looked sadly towards the door. "No…"

Underneath the drop ship, Mighty and Sally worked as fast as they could to hotwire the door open. "We need to hurry!" Mighty encouraged.

"I'm working as fast as I can…"

Back inside the drop ship, Scourge held the other end of the rope to help lift the noose once fastened around Shadow's neck. "Put it over your damn head!"

Shadow obeyed and put it around his neck. "Happy now, asshole?" Scourge pulled on the other end starting to lift Shadow from his perch. Shadow put a hand under the noose to keep it from pressing against his neck.

Scourge only smirked darkly. "You're so brave, aren't you?" Shadow stayed silent as he watched Scourge carefully. "What are you thinking now, Shadow?" He pulled on the rope harder so that Shadow stood on his toes trying to keep from strangulation.

•~•

"This can't be the only way back to camp," Sonic said quietly. Knuckles cautiously peeked from around the corner. The reapers had gathered at the other end of the tunnel and had a bonfire set up. The group of echidna's were rowdy and loud as they as tore away at meat.

"If you want to get home before Tristan slaughters your people, this is the only way," Knuckles explained.

"Great," Amy mumbled. The three slowly crept closer as they observed the reapers and tried to think of a plan. Sonic looked over at a cart next to one of the cave walls near the reapers. He became disturbed at what he saw.

"Amy…" Amy looked back at Sonic. "Look at the carts," he said. She looked back to the carts and saw bodies and remains. An arm draped along one of the sides of the cart, while a bloody leg draped along the other side.

There were two paths the tunnel took. Knuckles sighed and handed over his book to Sonic. "The tunnel on the right will lead you back to your camp."

Sonic looked at Knuckles bemused as he accepted the book. "What are you going to do?"

Knuckles narrowed his eyes back at the reapers. "I'm going to lead them away…" He pulled a knife tied from his side. "Wait until they follow me, then run," he instructed.

Amy put a hand on his shoulder causing Knuckles to look back at her. "Wait a second, if they catch you, they'll kill you."

"Worry about yourselves," he said confidently. "Most of Tristan's rangers will be at your gate by nightfall, but he'll send riders ahead, scouts," he explained. "Get out of there before they arrive," he made explicit.

One of the reapers, a brown echidna with loads of piercings and tattoos on his face, stopped eating a dismembered foot. He placed the half eaten body limb on the ground before getting up. Pulling out a sword attached to his back he slowly made his way towards the three hidden behind the curved wall.

Sonic noticed the reaper coming. "One is coming!"

Amy looked to Knuckles. "Where are we supposed to go?"

"In my book, there's a map. Follow it to the eastern sea. There's a clan there led by a woman. She's my friend. Tell her I sent you." The reaper was getting closer. Knuckles knew he needed to act now.

Sonic put a hand on his wrist, "Thank you," he whispered. Knuckles responded by giving a simple nod, before focusing on his next mission. He charged out from around the corner, and the other echidna took a swing at him with his sword. Knuckles ducked out of its aim, and came back up stabbing him under the jaw. The reaper gagged out on blood before collapsing dead.

The other reapers at the other end quieted down when they heard the disturbance. They started to hoot and holler as they chased Knuckles down the left side of the tunnel. Sonic and Amy watched anxiously as all the remaining reapers left their designated path clear.

Sonic grabbed Amy's hand. "Let's go."

•~•

"Now that the princess is dead, and the king is about to die, I think these people are going to need a new leader," Scourge said confidently.

"They'll never follow you…"

"We'll see about that…" A clang echoed from underneath the drop ship and Scourge narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the floor. Shadow's eyes followed as he worried Sally might have exposed herself.

"If that's Rouge down there then she's dead." He took three shots to the floor and Shadow eyes widened. "No!" Suddenly Scourge realized he was out of bullets. Shadow was trying to untie the noose tightened around his neck, but Scourge caught onto him. He quickly kicked the stool from underneath his feet and Shadow began to suffocate.

The door started to open as Sally had successfully hotwired the door. Rouge and the rest of the teens anxiously waited for the moment to rush in. Scourge knew he was screwed so he climbed up the ladder to the second floor, and locked himself inside. Mighty and a few other boys cautiously entered with guns drawn before their eyes set on Shadow dangling from the ceiling. His eyes were distance as his life slowly faded away.

Mighty rushed over and helped lift Shadow up so he wouldn't strangle himself any further. "Hurry!" Rouge came over and saw her brother's state. "Shadow!" She quickly cut down the rope hanging him and they laid Shadow on his back. Rouge helped cut the rope from around his neck. "Breathe!" Shadow took in some deep breaths. "Good, you're okay."

Shadow got to his feet panting. "Scourge, it's over!" he shouted towards the locked hatch.

Scourge looked around frantically for a way out of this mess. He still had his gun with him but was looking for some bullets. His eyes looked over to a table with a coffee can of gunpowder. He smirked as he picked up one bullet lying on the floor. "It's not over yet…"

•~•

Sonic and Amy ran down the right tunnel and came across more carts filled with bodies. Amy stopped in her tracks causing Sonic to stop too. Amy noticed a young female child laying in one of the carts among other deceased bodies. It reached out towards her barely breathing its last breath. "Amy, we need to go!" he pleaded as he grabbed her. Amy stared in horror at the skinny deathly child.

"But, they're alive…" she uttered.

"Sonic looked behind Amy and saw a reaper standing behind her. "Amy!" He quickly moved her out of the way only to come in contact with his swing. Sonic flew against one of the cave walls after receiving his powerful punch.

"Sonic!" Amy cried out.

The reaper grabbed Sonic and lifted him up. He smiled a sharp toothy grin and Sonic couldn't help but stare at the dried blood around his mouth. There were also bits of flesh embedded in his teeth. Suddenly a large rock slammed into the side of his head, and he collapsed onto the floor releasing his hold on him. Amy rushed over grabbing the large rock and continued to beat the rock that she hand thrown, and pummeled it into his face.

Blood splattered everywhere before he finally stopped moving. Amy panted and staggered to her feet releasing the rock from her hands. Sonic couldn't help but stare at Amy shocked and disturbed. She had just saved his life, but had also brutally killed someone. "Amy, you…"

"I did what I had to do, okay?" she countered. "Let's get out of here…" The two ran down the tunnel as they made their escape. It was now nearing daylight, as Sonic and Amy ducked under low-lying branches getting close to camp.

"This doesn't look right…" Sonic said as he looked at their surroundings.

Amy still had the image of the helpless victims in the carts from the tunnels. She couldn't understand why the repears were feeding off of them. "Why would they keep them alive?" she pondered aloud. Sonic didn't answer as he flipped through the pages of the book. "I swear the more we learn about this place the less we know," she continued.

Sonic looked over at Amy's bloody hands. He was also still disturbed by the fact that she had just taken a life and felt no guilt afterwards. "I-I should've fought for you…"

She softened. "Sonic…"

"-Amy, I love you." Amy blinked in surprise as she felt her heart flutter. This is all she ever wanted to hear. He smiled at her. "I'm in love with you."

Amy smiled weakly and looked down. "Sonic," she started. "I _was_ in love with you, but then you broke my heart…" His smile faded as he listened to her.

"Ames, I know I should have told you about Sal…but she broke up with me, just so I could be with you."

"I realize that, but it still doesn't feel right. When you two were together it hurt me. I could never do the same to her," she explained.

"She's given me her blessing though," he stated.

"I just-" before she could finish, a loud explosion sounded off in the distance. The two looked towards the source of the sound as they wondered what it was.

"That came from camp," Sonic said.

"We're too late?" Amy muttered.

•~•

Mighty and Shadow were able to break through the locked hatch after hearing the explosion. They climbed onto the second floor and saw the large hole left in the wall. "Shit…"

Shadow and Mighty watched as Scourge ran away from camp. "Should we go after him?" Mighty asked.

Shadow shook his head. "No, the grounders will get him first."

•~•

Outside, two boys heard some movement in the bushes. They aimed their guns towards the movement and Drago looked through his riflescope to see what it was. His eyes widened and he put his hand out to the other boys. "Wait, hold your fire, it's Amy and Sonic!" Drago shouted. "Open the gate!" Two boys standing on the ground pushed the gates opened allowing the two inside.

Shadow quickly strutted towards the entrance in disbelief. "Rose?"

Sonic and Amy ran inside. "We heard an explosion. What happened?" Amy panted.

"Scourge happened," he replied. "What the hell happened to you two?"

"We were captured but we managed to escape," she explained.

Mighty ran over and embraced her. "Oh, thank god!" Amy smiled and hugged back. "Where's Tails?" he asked.

Amy broke away from his embrace confused. "Tails is gone?"

"-Amy, we need to leave now," Sonic interrupted. "All of us do. There's an army of grounders, unlike anything we've seen. They're coming for us right now!" he told the crowd of teens surrounding them. "We need to pack what we can and run."

"Like hell we do," Shadow cut in. "We knew this was coming."

"Shadow, we're not prepared," Rouge piped in.

"Yeah, and they're not here yet. We still have the time to get ready," he countered. "Besides, where would we go? Where would we be safer than behind these walls," he said pointing towards them.

"There's an ocean to the east," Sonic brought up. "People there will help us."

"You saw Knuckles," Rouge said coming up towards him.

Sonic nodded. "Yes, he's the one that helped us escape."

Shadow crossed his arms over his chest. "You expect us to trust a grounder? This is our home now." He turned to the crowds. "We built this from nothing with our bare hands! Our dead are buried behind that wall," he pointed. "The grounders think they can take that away. They think that because we came from the sky, we don't belong here," he argued. "They're yet to realize one important thing. We're on the ground now, and that means we are grounders!" he shouted.

The hundred cheered as Shadow rallied them up with his speech. "Yeah!"

Shadow smiled confidently. "I say let them come!"

Amy smiled. Shadow had made some valid points and she could see he was boosting the confidence around camp. "Shadow's right. If we leave, we may never find a place as safe as this. But, we could face something even worse tomorrow. So pack your things, and take what you can, now." Everyone agreed and quickly dispersed. Shadow stared at Amy conflicted by her orders, the crowd had agreed with her.

Rouge grabbed Sonic's arm. "Where is he?" she asked referring to Knuckles. Sonic opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by a cry for help.

"Help me!" a familiar voice croaked in pain. Sonic shot his head to the right and saw Sally holding her side, as she weakly walked from around the drop ship.

"Sally!" Sonic rushed towards her. Shadow and Amy heard the disturbance and followed after him.

"Scourge shot her…" Shadow said as he saw her bloody hand holding her side.

Sonic scooped her up into his arms causing her to gasp out in pain. "Aah!"

"Get her into the drop ship!" Amy instructed. She started to make her way after the two but Shadow grabbed her wrist.

"Rose, leaving here is a mistake."

She stared up at him. "The decision has been made."

"Crowds make bad decisions," he debated. "Just ask Scourge. Leaders do what they think is right."

"I am doing what I think is right," she shot back.

•~•

On the ark, Kane and Jackson sat in the monitoring room trying to come up with ideas to fix their oxygen crisis. "What if we jettison sections 3 through 7?" Kane deduced.

Jackson looked at his tablet staring at the data. "Sir, we've run every scenario twice," he sighed. "There are no more options." The rabbit stared at Kane with dread. "I would really like to be with my wife now." The doors to the monitor room opened and Jaha strutted inside.

"Chancellor on deck," one of the other scientists announced.

"At ease," Jaha stated. He walked up to the Kane and Jackson. "Anything to report?"

Kane looked down. "No, sir."

"Well, I have some good news. I know how to fix our problems.

Abby came into the monitoring room just as she heard the end of Jaha's statement. "What are you talking about?"

"I figured out how we can go home," he smiled. The three looked at their chancellor trying to figure out what he had come up with. "We either die is space, or die trying to get to the ground," he continued.

"But, we have no more exodus ships, sir," Kane stated.

"You're wrong, Kane," he smiled. "There is one." Kane raised a brow. "The ark." Kane, Abby and Jackson all exchanged looks of optimism from his idea. Jaha cleared his throat. "Jackson, please tell us what would happen if we use the thrusters that keep the ark in orbit to propel us into the atmosphere instead."

"Uh, the ark would break apart, first into its original 12 stations then further as the violence intensified," he explained. "95% of the structures would explode on the way down."

Jaha walked over and pulled a schematic of the ark down from one of the walls. "You think you're smart enough to pinpoint the 5% that wouldn't explode?" he asked handing him the paper.

Jackson nodded. "Of course."

Kane was bewildered but also anxious about this plan. "Are we really going to do this? Bring the ark to the ground?"

Jaha turned and looked to Kane. "You have a better idea?" he grinned. Kane shook his head in silence. Jackson started to examine the map and decipherer the points. Jaha turned to Abby. "You ready to see your daughter again, Abby?"


End file.
